Winter Weather Advisory

I got this recipe from my best friend Caitlyn, who got it from her sister, so the two of them together saved the day. You see, all of Chicago was covered in twenty inches of snow last night, so leaving the house was absolutely out of the question unless you planned on digging your way to wherever you were trying to go. This recipe is 1. extremely easy and 2. requires ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen, and that meant that we didn't have to dig out a god-knows-how-old frozen pizza for dinner. That's what we did for lunch. Anyway!

Renee's Southwest Chicken & Pasta Skillet
Gather your ingredients:

2 cups (uncooked) "medium-sized" pasta (I'm not an expert on pasta since I hardly ever eat it, but this whole grain rotini more than got the job done)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into smaller bits
1 16-oz jar of your favorite store-bought salsa
2 cups of frozen corn (the recipe Caitlyn sent me mentioned that 2 cups is an awful lot of corn, so feel free to reduce it. I used 1.5 cups)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup shredded Mexican cheese (or whatever shredded cheese/cheese blend that makes you happy)

Start cooking the pasta according to the package. Cut the chicken up into 1", bite-sized cubes. Cook over medium heat in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray (or with a bit of olive oil if you're me and think olive oil makes the world go 'round) until done.

Just toss it around until there's no pink. The smaller the pieces, the faster they'll cook. Take care not to overcook the chicken, though. Nasty.

Add the cream cheese and mix gently until it gets nice and melty.


Dump the entire jar of salsa in and stir gently.


Do the same with the corn and the cumin.


At this point, the smell will be attracting the members of your household. They'll come into the kitchen and ask you when dinner will be ready. They'll tell you they'll love you forever if you'll let them have a taste. Or they might suggest that you add a small can of mushrooms. If the person who suggests mushrooms also happens to be the person that carried you in her womb for nine months and then birthed you without anesthesia, you might want to oblige.


Anyway, mix it all together gently -- with or without mushrooms -- and let it simmer for a few minutes. When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the skillet along with 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

Keeping it real: the recipe calls for a cup total, but a cup of cheese isn't nearly enough for a glutton like me. I added a cup at this point, using a total of two cups of shredded cheese for the whole recipe. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

Mix the pasta and cheese in gently, then let it simmer for another three or so minutes. Remove it from the heat, top with the reaming cheese.


Cover it and let it stand for 5 minutes before serving to give the cheese a chance to get all melty.

Is this a "gourmet" dinner? Absolutely not. Is it a warm, filling, easy, delicious way to satisfy an entire family? It absolutely is. It's customizable, too. The spiciness builds up as you eat more of it; just imagine how different it could be just by changing the hotness of the salsa. Throw in some chopped green chilies, maybe some diced green or red pepper. The best part is that it made enough food to feed a family of five that was hungry from a day of snow removal and I still managed to package up enough for lunch tomorrow.

No, wait, I change my answer. The actual best part is that I fed my truck driver father and teenage brother whole grain pasta and, because it was covered with cream cheese sauce, they had no idea. Mwahahaha!