Greek Linguine: Better Than Reading John Tierney

Going out for a nice Valentine’s Day coffee, I made the mistake of reading John Tierney, who used the occasion to spew some bullshit ev-psych tautologies that were egregious jagoffery even by his usual standards. Fortunately, Echidne and Amanda have already covered that angle. So, instead, since I cooked a tasty meal why not a recipe instead? This should feed a couple easily, and for dateless wonders heats up will in a skillet (or one of them “microwave” things apparently some of the kids have today.) It’s very good, simple, and takes no longer to make that it takes to cook pasta.

• Boil a large pot of salted water. At roughly the same time–if you have thin chicken breasts and good dried pasta, maybe wait a minute or two–heat roughly 1tsp olive oil (use more if needed, or if not using a non-stick skillet) to medium-high. Add 2-4 cloves minced or pressed garlic (4 if you ask me), cook for about a minute. Add 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper and cut into 1-inch chunks.) Saute, turning frequently. Make sure not to burn the garlic. (For our more ethical readers, it’s good without chicken too; just add more tomatoes and artichokes.)
• After chicken is browned, add about 1/3 cup medium-dry white wine. (If you don’t have any handy or don’t feel like a glass with dinner, just skip this and reserve some pasta water and throw it in at the end.) Simmer on medium or medium-low heat. Also add some oregano. Add linguine or other pasta to the water when it boils, of course.
• About 5 minutes before the pasta will be ready add 2-3 diced plum tomatoes. (Canned are also fine.) Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring.
  
• Add one can diced artichoke hearts. Continue stirring. After about a minute, add juice of one lemon.
• Drain the pasta, and add to skillet. Crumble feta cheese to taste and (if you have it) a little parsley. Stir until cheese melts a little and serve.

Tasty!

…in comments, I’m reminded of Dave’s excellent post, which notes that microwave use may be declining among these kids today, although Dave and I are pretty much the only people I know who don’t care if they have one (and in my case don’t)…