Healthier version of Chicken, Zucchini, and Alfredo over Penne Pasta

Every night Camden gives our new dinner experiments a rating from 1-5 stars, 3 being a decent meal, 4 being "let's make this again", and 5 being "please put this on my birthday dinner list." 1-2 ratings are just bad news and should be avoided at all costs. Thankfully we've only ever had one incident of a 1 star....fish oil gone wrong 😆. Last night we got a 4.5 with my healthier/quarantine supply version of a zucchini, chicken and alfredo pasta. After walking a ton in the chilly Sunday air and mowing the lawn (which looked like it had joined the ranks of young men in quarantine in desperate need of a hair cut), this was the perfect warm and snuggly meal (plus easy and rather therapeutic to make as I love frying pans and spatulas). 

Additionally, this meal can literally be modified with any veggies you love and any type of noodles and can totally be made without chicken, though I loved the chicken a lot. 

So....here it is! 

Yum and more yum

Ingredients:

1) At least 1 zucchini (other ideas include adding spinach, baby tomatoes, etc)

2) 4 chicken tenderloins (or really any chicken on hand...possibly shrimp would be great too)

3) 1 tbsp olive oil

4) 1/2 tsps of garlic powder, onion powder and dried basil; 1/4 tsp pepper and salt (or to taste) (really all spices are to taste so feel free to increase or decrease the amount!)

5) 2 cloves of minced garlic

6) Any type of pasta you'd like (Penne noodles were fabulous!)

7) 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

8) 1 cup milk (you  can use cream for the extra delicious, but slightly less healthy, version)

9) Optional toppings for garnish: fresh basil to sprinkle on top (we finally got to use some from our garden!) and shredded parmesan cheese.

Instructions:

1) Boil water and make your pasta. 

2) While pasta is boiling, pour olive oil into frying pan and put it on medium/high heat. Place chicken in pan and sprinkle with all spices on both sides. Add minced garlic to the pan and cook until no longer pink and chicken has a little browning on both sides. Cut up/shred chicken into smaller pieces. 

3) While chicken is cooking, cut up vegetables (tiny cubes are great for the zucchini so it gets cooked all the way through) and then add your veggies to the pan once the chicken is cooked. Let zucchini's  cook with chicken for about 5 minutes or until starting to soften (you can go longer if you don't want any crunch...I like a little crunch in my zucchini).

4) Turn heat down on chicken and veggies to medium low and add the milk and then the parmesan cheese. Stir for a few minutes until cheese is melted in.

5) Drain noodles and then add them to your chicken and veggies. Stir all together and keep warm until ready to serve.

I loved having this with fresh strawberries cut up on the side and apple sauce. But really, add whatever sides you would like! We garnished with fresh basil from our garden and parmesan cheese.

Super easy and super delicious!