Season the chicken Cut your chicken small. Smaller pieces cook faster and pick up the seasoning better. Mix it with the paprika, seasoning, salt, pepper, and garlic, and leave it sitting there while you sort the pasta water out. Ten minutes is fine, no need to marinate for hours.

Cook the chicken Get the oil hot in a big pan, medium heat. Put the chicken in and just leave it alone for a bit — don't keep stirring, it won't brown properly if you do. Six or seven minutes, till it's golden. Take it out, set it aside, don't wash the pan.

Boil the pasta Boil your pasta in salted water till it's cooked but not falling apart. Scoop out about half a cup of that water before draining — small step, but it makes the sauce better later. Broccoli or spinach, if you're using it, just toss it in with the pasta for the last couple of minutes.

Start the sauce Same pan the chicken was in. Oil or butter, then garlic, thirty seconds max, just till it smells good. Don't walk away here, burnt garlic ruins the whole thing.

Build the sauce Broth and milk go in next, let it warm up. Then parmesan, slowly, stirring so it melts instead of clumping. Season it. If it's too thick, splash in the pasta water.

Bring it together Chicken goes back in, pasta goes in, mix it all together, let it sit another minute on low heat. Parsley on top, extra parmesan because why not.

That's dinner, honestly.

Whole wheat pasta fills you up more. Vegetables like spinach, mushrooms, or bell peppers don't change the taste much but make you feel a little better about the meal. Fresh grated parmesan melts nicer than the bag stuff, worth the extra effort. If you want it lighter, use Greek yogurt for part of the milk, you genuinely can't tell the difference.