Foodie Fridays: Yum Yum Chicken with Broccoli and Soy Bean Spaghetti

Once again I felt the need come up with a quick and easy recipe using convenient ingredients.  My favorite way to cook chicken is to place it in a crock pot with a cup or so of liquid and letting it cook on the HIGH setting for three hours until it is so tender it falls apart.  I will use just about any liquid, and I happened to have a bottle of yum yum sauce in the pantry, so I thought I would try it.

Yum yum sauce is pale orange and creamy, but by the time the Yum Yum Chicken was done it was neither!  Instead the chicken has a bronzed look and tastes almost like pulled barbecue chicken.  I could have used it for pulled chicken sandwiches, but I had my heart set on a pasta dish, since I just bought some bean-based pastas and wanted to give them a try.  Of the various flavors I had on hand, I chose soy bean spaghetti, mainly because of its orange color which complemented the chicken.  I was worried that bean pastas might fall apart when cooked, but the spaghetti was surprisingly resilient and actually less likely to break than wheat pasta.  I even liked the taste!

The rest of the ingredients are pretty predictable.  I used up the remainder of the Trader Joe's Autumnal Harvest Pasta Sauce I put on last week's pizza, but any sauce would probably work.  I happen to love the combination of chicken and broccoli with pasta (as in my recent easy recipe here), but next time I may try greens and mushrooms as the vegetable.  Any type of pasta can be used instead of the soy bean variety.  I can't wait to try the four other bean pasta flavors I have in my pantry right now - even on a low carb diet these pastas are acceptable.  Feel free to substitute any liquid for the yum yum sauce when making the chicken, but then of course it would no longer be Yum Yum Chicken!

Yum Yum Chicken with Broccoli and Soy Bean Spaghetti

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle (16 oz.) Terry Ho's Original Yum Yum Sauce
1 bag (12 oz.) microwaveable broccoli florets, cooked
1 bag (7 oz.) Bellabondonza Organic Soy Bean Spaghetti
2 C. pumpkin or butternut squash pasta sauce

Coat the inside of a crock pot lightly with cooking spray.  Place the chicken in a single layer on the bottom and pour the yum yum sauce over.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 hours, until the chicken is very tender.  Reduce the heat to WARM and shred the chicken in the pot with two forks.  Stir in the cooked broccoli, tossing to combine.  Cover and keep warm.

Cook the soy bean spaghetti according to package directions (3-4 minutes in boiling water).  Scoop the pasta into the crock pot with the chicken mixture, reserving the pasta water.  Add the pasta sauce and toss (rather vigorously!) until all of the ingredients are combined, adding reserved pasta water as needed if the mixture seems dry.  Serve warm.  Serves 6.