Rigatoni

Okay, so this is probably one of the easiest meals to make when your starving, can't wait to eat, and don't have that much food in your fridge. This happened to me the other night, and this is what I made. Kind of embarrassing how easy it is.

Ingredients: 
1 cup uncooked rigatoni pasta
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (You use the yogurt as a replacement for alfredo sauce, both are good the yogurt is just obviously healthier)
chopped green onions (optional)


Follow directions for cooking the pasta. Mix together both the marinara sauce and Greek Yogurt. Heat the sauce either on the stove or in the microwave. Pour sauce over pasta, mix together, and top with green onions. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion-diced

4 cloves garlic-minced

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

4 Cups Chicken Broth

1 can stewed tomatoes-Mexican recipe (blend in food processor for ONLY 1 to 2 seconds until slightly chopped)

1 bag (16 oz.) frozen corn

1 can Cuban recipe black beans (you could use regular black beans, but the Cuban recipe black beans have onions, peppers, and cumin mixed in)

2 1/2 Cups shredded chicken-seasoned (I used taco seasoning)

1 tsp. lime juice

3 flour tortillas

Toppings-green onion, cilantro, shredded cheese, avocado, etc!

Directions:

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes until slightly softened. Stir in cumin and chili powder and cook one more minute. Pour in Chicken broth and stewed tomatoes. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat to a simmer. Add in corn, black beans, shredded chicken and lime juice. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes. While soup is simmering preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut flour tortillas into strips and bake for 4 to 6 minutes or until crispy. Ladle soup into bowls and top with your favorite toppings.

BBQ Chicken Salad

Tyler and I love Zupas. We would eat there all the time if we could. Last night we decided to try and make one of Tyler's favorite Salads, BBQ chicken salad. So Yummy, and depending on the amount of dressing, relatively healthy. It is also nice and filling.

1 Head Romaine Lettuce

1 Can of Corn (not creamed)

1 Can of Olives

1 Can of Black Beans (We had it without the beans and it was still good)

1/2 Red Onion

1-2 Tomatoes

2 Chicken Breasts

1 TBS Oil

Tortilla stips (or crumbles tortilla chips)

BBQ Sauce

Ranch

Step 1: Coat frying pan with Oil and grill Chicken

Step 2: (While chicken is cooking) Rip lettuce into bite size pieces, cube veggies, drain and rinse corn and beans, and slice olives. Put each topping into separate bowls (this is especially useful when you have guests,)

Step 3: When the chicken is finished cooking, cube, and put in bowl.

Step 4: Assemble salad with desired toppings.

Step 5: Drizzle Ranch and BBQ sauce on salad.

Notes: If you know the topping portions you want, you can pre-assemble salad. If you add too much dressing/sauce it overpowers the other flavors and doesn't give the right kick that you need.