By March. The azaleas outside my building are in bloom now, pink and lavender and white, and the morning air smells different, warmer and full of something beginning. Alabama spring is the most beautiful season and it arrives abruptly, like a door opening rather than a gradual change. One week it is grey and cold and the next week the world is covered in pink and you feel like you have been given something back.
Work is getting busier as more parents return to in-person jobs after working from home through the winter. My room is at capacity again for the first time since the fall. The new toddlers are adjusting. We have tears every morning for a few weeks during drop-off and it never gets easier to watch, but I have learned how to hold a child who does not want to be left and also communicate to the parent that it will be okay and the child will be fine within ten minutes. Both things are true. I just have to say them both at the same time with my body.
I made a pot of chicken and rice soup this week because one of my kids came in Monday with a cold and by Thursday half the room had it and by Friday I had it too, just a mild one. Chicken soup is my answer to illness the way it is for everyone, but I make mine with the whole bird simmered for hours until the broth is golden and glossy, then I pick all the meat off, discard the bones, and add back carrots and celery and rice. The kind that could cure something specific if cured things were real.
Sunday at Gloria's I felt mostly better and she made me sit down and just eat instead of helping cook. I did not fight her on it. Sometimes being taken care of is its own kind of gift.
The soup carried me through the worst of it, but by the weekend I was on the mend and ready for something a little lighter — still warm, still simple, still the kind of thing that doesn’t ask too much of you. This angel hair pasta with chicken is what I reach for in that in-between place: not quite sick, not quite yourself, but hungry in a way that feels like good news. It comes together quickly, which matters when your energy is still finding its way back, and it has that same quiet generosity as a bowl of soup — the kind of meal that says someone thought to feed you.
Angel Hair Pasta with Chicken
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 12 oz angel hair pasta
- 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (or additional chicken broth)
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook angel hair pasta according to package directions until al dente, about 3–4 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain and set aside.
- Season and sear the chicken. Pat chicken slices dry and season generously with salt and black pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook 3–4 minutes per side until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
- Build the sauce. Reduce heat to medium and add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for about 60 seconds until fragrant. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook another 2 minutes until they begin to soften.
- Deglaze and simmer. Pour in the white wine and chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the liquid simmer for 3–4 minutes until slightly reduced. Stir in the lemon juice.
- Combine. Return the chicken to the skillet. Add the drained pasta and toss everything together, adding reserved pasta water a splash at a time if the sauce seems too tight. Cook for 1–2 minutes until everything is warmed through and well coated.
- Finish and serve. Remove from heat and fold in fresh parsley. Divide among bowls and top each with grated Parmesan. Serve immediately.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 520 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 58g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 340mg