Pho and Chicken Parmigiana with Spaghetti Squash and Linguine

Good morning, y'all! On this day, Husband took me out for Pho for lunch! Since he's not a soup man, or the most adventuresome eater, this was really sweet of him! I had been craving Vietnamese food since I made that Pad Thai! The smell of fish sauce always reminds me of the dipping sauce you usually are served with Imperial spring rolls, which makes me think of the Vietnamese restaurant near my parents, which makes me think of Pho, therefore, the smell of fish sauce inevetibly makes me crave Pho! I always want to try something new when I go out for Vietnamese, there are many things that sound really good, but oh, that Pho! Even on a super hot day, I want a big, hot bowl of soup, it is THAT good!! This Pho was seriously the best I have EVER had! The broth itself was incredibly flavorful, I could have eaten it as is, but I love my Pho with fish sauce, hoisin sauce and siracha. I'm not sure if the chili oil they brought out was for the Pho or Hubby's fried rice, I haven't had it served with Pho before, but Man didn't want it, so I poured a good bit of it in, too! Like I said yesterday, Pho is one of the foods I like to sweat while I eat! He kind of made fun of me about the sweat, but, whatever, I like it! I added in almost all of the cilantro and basil they brought out in, and all of the bean sprouts, lime juice, and jalapenos! It was incredible!! You get an enormous bowl for $7. Back home, the same sized bowl is $5, and there is another Pho house here that serves it for $4, but I really really liked this one, I think I'll stick here. They also have an enormous menu, so if I ever do go and can stand the thought of not having Pho, there are plenty of things I would like to try! There has only been one time I haven't gotten Pho, and that was because I wanted JT to eat and I knew soup wasnt something he could really eat then! I had lemongrass chicken that time, and it was very good! The only things I didn't like about that place were that they didn't serve mint with the Pho, and they didn't serve the dipping sauce with the Imperial spring rolls. They gave us some packets of sweet and sour sauce, which I wasn't really in to, I like it on Chinese egg rolls, but not on those, so I just poured some fish sauce on when needed. I missed the dipping sauce, though. All in all, that place was wonderful! Next time I go, I'm going to try the preserved lemonade.


This bowl isn't very full, because I already ate a bit of it before the thought of taking a picture hit. I was just so excited! Beh beh's little arm back there is dipping Cilantro into the soup they brought out with Hubb's meal, which he gave to the little toot! I'm notoriously a noob with chop sticks, so he helped me figure it out and showed off his rice eating skills. He was stationed in Japan for a year, he had lots of practice! (Yes. That is a T-rex in the background. Baby had to have it!)


Husband was going to have duty the next day, and deployed the day after, so this would be the last dinner I would be able to make him for a while. So I made him Chicken Parm with whole wheat linguine tossed with spaghetti squash. I WAS going to sautee broccoli rabe, which is super yummy, but I went to the commisarry a few times between when we originally did the shopping and this evening and could never find it. Which is a strange coincidence, because the last time I had gone, before I made this menu plan, they had a lot of it! Just my luck! Anyway, I'll still post that recipe, because it IS good, I just couldn't make it. Boo!



For the Chicken Parmigiana;
This recipe takes about 30 minutes to prep and cook.

2 small onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
cooking spray
2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon Splenda
salt
pepper
1/2 cup snipped fresh basil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup dried breadcrumbs (I had Panko on hand, so I used that)
1/4 teaspoon dried basil. crushed
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1 egg white
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
fresly grated parmesean cheese

For the sauce, cook onion and garlic in a saucepan coated with butter flavored cooking spray over medium heat until tender. Carefully stir in undrained tomatoes (Tomatoes have a tendency to splatter when intorduced into a hot pot.), sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered about 10 minutes, stirring occationally. If you want a smoother sauce, with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender, puree sauce until it is the consistancy you like. Stir in basil and set aside, covered to keep warm. (If you don't need to sauce up your chicken as much, halve the sauce recipe. I like a lot of sauce, though.)

Meanwhile, halve the chicken breasts horizontally through the middle, as if you were butterflying, but go all the way to make 4 pieces. On your meat cutting board (You do have one for meat and one for produce, right?), lay out the chicken breasts in a single layer, top with plastic wrap, and pound slightly until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

In a shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, basil, thyme, oregano, and the 3 tablespoons parmesean cheese. In a small bowl, beat together egg whites and buttermilk. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off, and dredge in breadcrumbs.

In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, over medium heat, cook chicken 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden. Plate the chicken and top with sauce (If you're serving with the pasta and spaghetti squash, reserve some sauce to toss with them, if desired.). Then, top with the mozzarella cheese and grate some fresh parmesan cheese over top.

This recipe serves 4.

For the spaghetti squash;
This recipe takes about 50 minutes to cook and prep.

1 medium spaghetti squash
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesean cheese
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
salt
pepper
cooked whole wheat linguine (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Halve squash lengthwise, remove and discard seeds. Place halves, cut side down, in a large baking dish. Using a fork, prick the skin all over. Bake, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender (For mine, it took 40 minutes.).

With a fork, scrape pulp from shell. Toss with pasta, if desired, along with the parmesean, oregano, salt and pepper. If desired, toss with some of the reserved sauce from the Chicken Parm, or another pasta sauce.

This recipe serves 6.

If you want to make the broccoli rabe that I didn't get to;
This takes about 20 minutes to make.

2 pounds broccoli rabe
1 large red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized strips
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
salt
pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
cooking spray
crushed red pepper flakes
lemon wedges

Wash broccoli rabe and remove woody stems (Reserve for making a stock.). Coresly chop the leafy greens.

In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, saute bell pepper, basil and garlc, and season with salt and pepper, for 2 minutes. Add broccoli rabe. Using tongs, toss and cook vegetables for 4 to 6 minutes, until broccoli rabe is crisp-tender. Plate and sprinkle with red pepper and freshly grated parmesean. Serve with lemon wedges.

This recipe serves 6.

Enjoy!!