Creamy Chipotle Chicken Pasta

Check out my new toy.

Pasta Press Attachment for the Mixer.

Better than Play-doh.

Oh my goodness I'm so excited it's not even funny.  Only because I made Rigatoni, though.  If I'd made Fusilli it would be pretty hilarious.

Homemade Rigatoni

Creamy Chipotle Chicken Pasta

So this recipe made use of some leftover deeeelicious Chipotle chicken that Mark had grilled for us.

I just sautéed some onion, garlic, and sweet peppers, made a quick béchamel sauce, mixed it all together with the shredded chicken and pasta, and added a few bleu cheese crumbles on top.

Chipotle Marinade for the Chicken: (from "The Barbecue Bible"):
[This is great on chicken - Mark marinated and grilled tenders, which we most recently ate with rice, and it makes for amazing tacos as well.]

• 6 Canned chipotle chiles in Adobo sauce with 2T of their juices
• 5 Cloves Garlic
• 1 strip orange zest (2")
• 1 cup fresh sour orange juice (or 3/4 cup orange juice, 1/4 cup lime juice)
• 1 T tomato paste
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Combine in a saucepan and bring to a boil
2. Allow to reduce by half (5-8 minutes)
3. Blend in a food processor to a smooth paste

Béchamel/White sauce:

• Butter
• Flour
• Milk
• Salt and Pepper

1. Melt a few tablespoons of Butter in a saucepan over medium heat
2. Add in a spoonful of flour, and whisk until it's a golden-brown, smooth paste
3. Add milk (or cream) and whisk till smooth
4. Let thicken if needed, or add more liquid if it gets too thick
5. Salt and Pepper to taste

Warm Sweet Potato Salad

Warm Sweet Potato Salad

This was gooooo-oood.  And it was destiny, I think, because when I found this recipe online I was able to say, "Oooh, got that...have that...yes...can make that, have that."

Here's the rundown:
Salad:

• sweet potatoes, roasted with cumin, ginger, and rosemary
• toasted pumpkin seeds
• dried cranberries
• roasted peppers
• scallions (or just thinly sliced onions)

Dressing:

• balsamic vinegar
• mango chutney
• dijon mustard
• garlic
• honey
• olive oil

Here's the link: Warm Sweet Potato Salad
I did a couple of things differently - but not too much:

• I used dried rosemary instead of fresh, so I only used about 1.5 tablespoons.
• I didn't have roasted red pepper, but I did have some of those little sweet peppers, so I just sliced a few and threw those on one end of the pan in which I roasted the potatoes (but took them out earlier than the potatoes, of course).
• I didn't have mango chutney, but I did have mangoes, so I briefly sautéed those with some onions, butter, a little brown sugar, lime juice (my mango needed more tang), and a pinch of salt....viola!...chutney.
• And I didn't have scallions, so my plan was to thinly slice some onions, but my chutney turned out plenty onion-y, so I didn't add any more.
• And the green stuff on top is fresh parsley...just for prettiness.