One pot dishes – Chicken mince with spaghetti, spinach and peas

A few notes and tips on this dish

1. This is a one pot dish. One pot dishes are wholesome but even more it is a great way to get rid of the little stuff that’s hanging around in your refrigerator and grocery cupboards.

2. For a one pot meal you need one strong non vegetarian component. In this case I have used chicken mince. You could find any other substitute in terms of meat and this dish will work as well. However, cooking timings may wary a bit. I would avoid using processed meats such as sausages as they won’t add much flavour to the dish.

3. Don’t be afraid when you see a recipe that says five green chilies and two and a half teaspoons of coarsely ground pepper. Always look at the total quantity of ingredients and figure out how hot a dish would be. Some people look at the number of chilies and turn a page; bad idea you just lost a great dish.

4. One pot dishes are a great way to get your children to eat meat with a whole bunch of vegetables. When adding vegetables to a one pot dish use a combination of a hardy vegetable and a leafy one. I used peas and spinach which is a great combination. This is not a fixed rule you could also use two hardy vegetables like cauliflower and carrots. Work the combination out in your head. Remember that vegetables have distinct flavours that enhance even a predominantly non vegetarian dish.

5. This dish has spaghetti, peas and spinach which when cooked along with the meat absorbs the flavours of the meat stock. This enhances the taste of the vegetables, especially for those who can’t handle anything green in their plate.

6. Since you are using spaghetti in this dish, avoid the temptation to use potatoes or you will end up with too much starch in your dish.

7. Spaghetti can easy be broken into equal pieces. Take the packet and simply hold it against your kitchen counter edge at the spot you want the spaghetti to break; then press down. Alternatively you can add the spaghetti whole. I chose to break them into four equal pieces for easy cooking.

8. Use large onions for this dish. Onions have a sweet taste when cooked and keep a dish nice and moist.

9. This dish does has three spices, don’t over spice your dishes, let the ingredients speak for themselves

10. Don’t confuse spice with pungency. A dish may be ‘spicy’ but not necessarily hot!