Thursday, March 12, 2020

Chicken & Spinach Alfredo


8 oz uncooked spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. chicken tenders (not breaded), cut into 1-inch pieces
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
1 ½ cup chopped spinach
1 jars (16 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce
1 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese, optional
¼ cup Panko

Steps
1 Heat oven to 350°F.
2 Cook pasta as directed on box; drain.
3 Meanwhile, in 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken, salt and pepper; cook 6 to 8 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Add spinach, saute 2-3 minutes.  Add Alfredo sauce; carefully stir until well blended.
4 Spoon spaghetti evenly into 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick; sprinkle mozzarella cheese over spaghetti.  Evenly spoon Alfredo mix over the cheese. 
5 Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and thoroughly heated.
6 Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and Panko.  Put back in the oven and turn the oven off, allowing the cheese to melt.
Serves 6-8

Comment:  This recipe originally used broccoli, which I can’t eat, so I substituted it with spinach.  I used frozen ‘bag’ spinach which is easier to work with.  The original had everything mixed together and then placed in a baking dish.  I made the separation which made ‘cutting’ a serving so much easier.  I also added the parmesan and panko.  So delicious!  So easy!

Chicken Lazone


2 teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 lb uncooked chicken breast tenders (not breaded)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup whipping cream


In small bowl, stir together 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons garlic powder and 2 teaspoons chili powder. Sprinkle over 1 lb uncooked chicken breast tenders (not breaded) to completely coat.
In 10-inch skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the unsalted butter over medium-low or medium heat. Add coated chicken tenders; cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned and no longer pink in center. Transfer chicken to plate; set aside.
In same skillet, heat 1 cup whipping cream, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet. Increase heat to simmer or until cream comes to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until cream is reduced by half. Stir in remaining 2 tablespoons unsalted butter. Season to taste with salt. Return chicken to skillet.
Serves 4

Comments:  I forgot to buy the whipping cream so I used 1 1/4 cups of milk and 1 Tbsp. flour, mixed until smooth and I also added 1/4 cup of soft cream cheese with chives & onions.  I added the cream cheese to the frying pan after taking the chicken out, stirring until melted.  I then added the milk with flour cooking until it started to thicken.  Then I replaced the chicken, heating everything and poured over the pasta.  This dish is different.  I took one bite and wasn't sure I liked it but found myself wanting another bite, then another, then another.  It really is good.