A weeknight cream sauce built around whipped heavy cream and whatever protein you can find: rotisserie chicken works, or a frozen breast thawed in hot water. The cream whips into something richer than its ingredients, and thyme brings the dish home in twenty minutes.

Serves 2. 25 minutes, 20 at the stove.

About 840 calories a serving, 40 g protein, 30 g carbohydrate, 63 g fat. From USDA figures for 88% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.

Cook mode

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Dice 1 small onion and cook it until soft, about four minutes; add 2 minced garlic cloves and cook 30 seconds more.
2. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour over the onion and garlic, stir to coat, and cook one minute until it smells toasty. The roux is ready when the raw flour smell is gone.1 min
3. Pour in 8 oz of the whipped cream slowly, stirring often to keep lumps from forming. The cream will thin as it heats; keep stirring until it simmers gently, about three minutes.3 min
4. Tear 8 oz cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and stir it into the sauce. Add 1 teaspoon dried thyme, then taste and season with salt and pepper.
5. Let the chicken warm through while it simmers gently, about two minutes. Toast 2 slices of bread while the sauce finishes.2 min
6. Spoon the creamed chicken over the toast and serve at once.

Note Swap the thyme for tarragon if you have it, or a pinch of nutmeg. Leftovers keep three days covered in the fridge and reheat gently with a splash of water over low heat. Serve with a simple green salad or steamed greens on the side to cut the richness.