cooking with my basil

I am not a cook with lots of talent. I can't use recipes "as starters" to have a successful dish. I don't know exactly what "al dente" means. And I certainly can't stand shopping for groceries, especially items that I've never used before for new recipes. If I go up and down each isle only twice... it's a miracle. Sometimes I even call my Mom to ask her where I should look and how it's packaged (it's hard to find something when you think it's going to be in a can, but instead it's in a box). Overall the kitchen, in general, is a struggle for me.

Nevertheless, I have lots of GREAT cooking people around me! My Mom and Dad always try new things, healthy and delicious! My bestest friend, Heather, was a nutrition/foods science major in college, and she's always been a brave kitchen warrior. She always sends me easy recipes that feel like shortcuts. For example, she taught me about marinading chicken. Now I don't hate cooking chicken.

Okay, on with what I cooked with my blossoming basil plant (thanks Dad!). It was delicious.

Basil chicken and Parmesan sauce:

Simmering, before adding the pasta

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small bite size pieces
1 box of rotini pasta
2 garlic cloves, chopped
Lots of basil, maybe 12-15 leaves
1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 overflowing cup Parmesan cheese

Marinade for the chicken:
1 cup soy sauce
a splash of worchester sauce
lemon juice from 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons of honey
2 garlic cloves, smashed
onion powder
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
ground black pepper

Final product without the fresh basil garnish

Cook the pasta until it's done, drain. While that's cooking, saute chicken and garlic. When the chicken is mostly done, add the heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, black pepper and basil. Bring to a boil and simmer for 4-6 minutes. Toss pasta into sauce and serve! Add fresh basil for garnish.

Improvements for next time:

1. Marinade the chicken for only 1 day. I marinaded the chicken for over 2-3 days (because I didn't have the heavy cream to make the dish), so the chicken was salty and had a lot of the soy sauce taste.

2. Use more chicken. I only defrosted 2 pieces of chicken, but the dish in the end was mostly pasta. The marinade would be enough with double the amount of chicken.

Any other suggestions for next time while I wait for my basil plant to grow back?