The season on Martha’s Vineyard is almost over. We’re all actually counting the weeks, the days, the hours. And it’s not because we dislike our jobs, because we actually LOVE them! It’s basically because we’ve had no time to do anything else but wake up, drink coffee, go to work, come home, work another shift, sleep.

So, as I’ve mentioned before, cooking at home has significantly decreased. If I’m not working a double, I do come home and try to make something quick and easy to satisfy my hunger not only for food, but for the normality of sitting down and eating a meal that’s not rushed. And these meals are normally just for myself, since M works through the day until 11pm every day except Mondays.

These meals are basically pantry meals, of whatever I have available in the pantry and in the freezer. Here’s how it normally goes:

5:30pm – Walk into house, open freezer, and grab a chicken breast. Throw it in a bowl of water in the sink to defrost while I shower (I know I should be running cold water over it, but I think that’s a waste of water, but it IS the correct way to defrost meats!)
5:30-6:30pm – Sit on the laptop and get sucked into Twitter. Waste an hour online, mindlessly surfing the web, reading new posts, and still haven’t showered.
6:30pm – shower and change into comfortable clothes. Head to the kitchen to see if the kitchen elves have made me dinner.
6:31pm – realized the kitchen elves don’t exist and I have to make dinner for myself.
6:45pm – de-bone chicken breast and throw it in a bowl with some marinade.
6:50pm – look in the pantry for a carb. Find a box of Jovial Foods Spaghetti and a bottle of Chile Olive Oil.
7pm – boil a pot of water. Look into fridge for some sort of healthy vegetable. Find onions and garlic. That’s enough, right?
7:15pm – saute veggies, sear chicken. Throw a sauce together, add spaghetti.
7:16pm – sit down on couch, turn on TV, and eat my Colombian Spiced Chicken with Oregano Infused Pasta.

Ingredients

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 tablespoons Colombian Spice Paste
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons Chile Olive Oil
½ yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
½ cup water
¼ cup Chile Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Dominican dried oregano
Jovial Foods pasta for one cooked and strained

Instructions

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Slather the chicken breast with the Colombian Spice Paste. Season with salt and pepper and let marinade for 20 minutes.
Dice the onion and garlic and saute until translucent in the olive oil. Sear the chicken breast (on both sides) in this same pan and add water. Place in oven until chicken is cooked, about 12 minutes.
In the meantime, infuse Chile Olive Oil with dried oregano. Add to cooked pasta and let sit while chicken cooks.
Once chicken is done, slice into strips and add infused oregano pasta into the same pan. Saute for a minute or two to mix flavors and serve with a slice of fresh lime.

Thanks to Jovial Foods and Chile Olive Oil for now becoming staples in my pantry! Items were sent free of charge, opinions are my own.

Weeknight Eats: Colombian Spiced Chicken & Jovial Foods Pasta