Erica's Italian "Slop" aka Pasta-less Italian

I walked into the break room on Monday to the scent of fragrant Italian food. Lasagne? I wondered. The only person in the room was Erica, a nurse I work with who has been on the Atkins diet for months.

"What is that intoxicating smell?" I asked.
"Slop," responds Erica.
I give her a quizzical look. "Slop? What do you mean?"
"Slop," Erica begins in her Rhode Island accent, "is pasta, without the pasta."

I took a few notes and then made it the following night. The extra prepared chicken I threw in the freezer for the next time I need something easy and low-cal Italian.

Erica's Pastaless Italian Slop
about 1 lb of chicken, cut into bite-sized morsels, seasoned with salt and pepper
*1 jar of pasta sauce
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
1 large crown of broccoli, cut into small bite-sized morsels
1 can of olives (with a few reserved for eating while cooking), cut in halves (optional)
Ricotta cheese
salt & pepper to taste
EVOO

*If you don't have pasta sauce handy, take a can of crushed tomatoes, add 1 big pinch basil, 1 pinch oregano, salt, pepper, and a dash of thyme.

1. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon of EVOO in a frying pan for the chicken.

2. While the pan is warming, dumb sauce, garlic cloves, broccoli, olives, and red pepper flakes into a sauce pot. Turn on medium and cover. Be sure to stir occasionally while cooking the chicken.

3. Cook the chicken stir-fry style. When it's finished, the sauce should also be finished. The broccoli in the sauce is the litmus for "done."

4. Serve the chicken smothered in sauce, and add a dollop of ricotta cheese. Enjoy!