Linguini with smoked chicken, asparagas and brocolli

Ingredients

• 2 skin on smoked chicken breasts $7.15
• 200g linguini $0.98
• Tin of anchovies $4.25
  
• 2 cloves of garlic $0.25
  
• 400g broccoli head $2.50
  
• 10 spears of asparagus $2.49
• dash of cream $0.50
• splash of chicken stock $0.50
  Total $18.62
  
  

Method

1. Stick an enormous pot of well salted water on to boil
2. Chop the chicken into bits, the broccoli into florets and the asparagus into slices.
3. When the water is boiling fiercely, stick the veges in small batches to blanch and turn bright green. Run them under cold water when you are done to stop them from cooking further. I think it does something chemically to the chlorophyll to keep 'em a pretty green when you finish cooking them later.
4. Put the pasta in to cook when you are done
5. Chop the anchovies and the garlic into a fine mince.
6. Fry off in a little oil (I used the oil from the anchovy tin) until the anchovies dissolve and the garlic is soft.
7. Chuck in the chicken and fry until a little browned.
8. Deglaze pan with chicken stock and add in vegetables and cream and heat through.
9. When the pasta is done drain (save a little pasta water just in case you need to loosen the sauce later) and pour into the sauce, stir through to coat all the pasta.
10. Serve with garlic bread.

Time to cook: 20 minutes
Family happiness: All and sundry ate with gusto.
Leftovers: 1 serve.

Chicken with Thyme and tomato

Ingredients

• 400g free range chicken thighs $8.90
• 800ml tomato passata $2.95
• 1 bunch thyme $2.45
• 400g cannelini beans $1.85
• 1/2 Garlic bread (I cheated and bought it) $2.45
  Total $18.60
  

Method

1. Trim the chicken things of excess fat
2. Whack garlic bread in preheated oven.
   
3. Strip 5-10 sprigs of thyme to make about 3 tbps of leaves and chop 'em up.
   
4. Fry thighs until nice and brown in a little olive oil, flavour the oil with a few springs of thyme if you like, use a big pan and be sure to remove the sprigs when the chicken is done
   
5. Pour in the passata and bring to the boil
   
   
6. Add the chopped thyme leaves.
7. When the tomato is good and thick, stir in the beans and heat through.
8. Serve with garlic bread for sauce sopping.

Time to prepare: 20 mins
Family happiness: 2 year old slurped it up and came looking for more (be careful he doesn't gag on any of the sprigs of thyme if you miss any, mine did), 4 year turned up his nose at the beans and ate the chicken, passata and garlic bread. Wife seemed happy, but she had it nuked so not really a reasonable test.