This recipe for roasted red pepper and olive pasta is quick weeknight dinner that makes use of leftover cooked chicken or rotisserie chicken.
The idea of making dinner every single night is terrifying. I don’t know how parents do it, I mean three meals a day for 1 (or more) kids. Everyday. Single. Day. That just boggles my mind. Somedays I can barely remember to feed myself! I know, surprising coming from a food blogger. But I do remember to feed my dog, Sophie, but dumping a scoop of dry dog food into a bowl doesn’t require much effort, or planning. Sometimes I’m just so tired at the end of the day that the idea of cooking an elaborate dinner makes me want to crawl into bed and hide under the covers-which I have definitely done on occasion. We all have days where the only thing that you can do is crawl back into bed and call it a day.
This roasted red pepper and olive pasta recipe is kind of a cheater dinner because it’s so easy, it practically takes as much effort to put together as dumping the dog food into the bowl. Except instead of dog food, it’s fresh, healthy veggies (red peppers!) and instead of a dog bowl, it’s a hot oven. And then this healthy veggie mixture roasts together and gets sweet and yummy and then you add cooked pasta (whole wheat, please) and cooked chicken and you have a meal. This is the answer to those days where cooking is the last thing you want to do. If you don’t have any leftover cooked chicken, you can always pick up a rotisserie chicken on the way home and use that. This roasted red pepper and olive pasta is a recipe that has it all-you’ve got your vegetables, whole grains and protein, add some dairy somewhere in the meal and you’ve got all your food groups covered. With just a little chopping, stirring and draining. Easy peasy.
If you’re looking to add more quick and easy dinners to your repertoire, I’ve got a few ideas:
My 5-ingredient miso salmon parcels are a meal in themselves made with salmon and snow peas.
The original simple, pasta dinner is my shrimp and basil pasta (it’s to-die-for!).
Roasted Red Pepper and Olive Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 red peppers, sliced into thin 1 inch long strips
- 1 cup halved pitted kalamata olives
- 6 garlic cloves, diced
- 5 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups chopped leftover cooked chicken, poached, roasted, rotisserie etc.
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 package of whole wheat penne pasta, cooked according to package directions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
- Toss red pepper, olives and garlic with olive oil.
- Dump into a roasting pan and roast in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and stir in chicken.
- Serve over whole wheat penne.
Notes
Let me know if you give this roasted red pepper and olive pasta a try in the comments below.
Alex
I feel like this would go along really well with your garlic bread recipe!
Lou
Thanks Alex – that’s so funny because that’s actually what we served it with at my house!
Consuelo @ Honey & Figs
I love quick and healthy dinners like this! And the fact I’d get to use chicken leftovers sounds perfect to me as well. What a flawless meal :)
Lou
Hi Consuelo, thank you! I’m always looking to create recipes that could use some leftovers.
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl
This is a perfect harvest meal as we’ll be picking lots of peppers this week! Thanks for sharing!
Lou
Thanks, Pamela! It’s so easy to – let me know if you give it a try.
rika
I usually like simple tomato sauce with garlic & basil, or grilled veggies on pasta with a bit of garlic.
Lou
I also love a a simple tomato sauce with basil and garlic, it’s one of my go-tos!
Davida @ The Healthy Maven
This looks delicious! I honestly don’t know how parents do it….except my parents who gave me a toonie to buy a pizza pocket at the arena ;)
Lou
Thanks, Davida! Yes I remember those pizza pockets, don’t understand how we skated 5 minutes after scarfing them down.