Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Savory, earthy, fresh, rich, meaty, slightly spicy.
Texture: The sauce is luscious and creamy while the mushrooms are tender without being overcooked and the chicken is moist.
Ease: Easy and quick enough to be a weeknight meal.
Appearance: Oh so creamy and the spinach adds a lovely pop of color.
Pros: The whole-grains, veggies, and chicken make this meal not overly indulgent. Perfect option for when you need to feed only yourself and don’t want to resort to take-out.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? Yes and yes.
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ÂI can’t think of a more distracting place than the internet. Especially when I’m writing an essay. When I’m staring at the Word document screen, trying to bust out a few more pages, suddenly everything else in the world seems a million times more interesting and requires my immediate attention. Really the only thing that keeps me going is the thought of the immense relief I’ll feel when I finally do finish the stupid essay and turn it in.
The best part of working long, hard hours on something? Food breaks. Not only do they physically keep you going, a good meal can keep your spirits up. Take this dish for example. It’s creamy, earthy, and every bite takes you away from what’s lurking on your computer screen.
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Ingredients
- 1 boneless, skinless chicken cutlet
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 5 medium button mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole-wheat flour
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup packed baby spinach leaves
- 3/4 cup dried whole-grain penne, or similar shape, cooked according to package directions and drained
Instructions
- Generously season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add chicken and cook 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from skillet and cover with aluminum foil.
- Add garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and mushrooms to skillet; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Be careful not to burn garlic. Add the butter to the center of the pan, let melt, then whisk in flour. Cook 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in heavy cream.
- Stir in spinach, allowing it to wilt slightly. Stir in cooked pasta. Thoroughly mix together before serving.
I made this a couple of weeks back and it's awesome! So awesome that I had to share with my 2 faithful readers. Never fear though I linked back to you, like 97 times. 🙂 Thanks for the tasty treat! Cheers!
We made this tonight and I must say it was FABULOUS!!! I just have a question. I made it into 4 servings and all my conversions were correct but it just was A LOT of crushed red pepper. Was curious if that is correct or a typo. For a 4 serving dish I did 1 Tbsp and stopped there bc it looked like a lot and that was some intense heat.
Adding this to my menu for next week (as if I made a menu)…what I really mean is that I will be making this soon. Thanks for sharing. Yum!
This has all of my favorite ingredients! I can't wait to give it a try. And I am right there with ya on the food breaks part. Story of my life!
I totally hear you with the distraction part! I seem to find all kinds of -anyways boring- things that are way more important and exciting than writing a paper or studying for a final…Oh and the pasta dish looks delicious!
Yes! Another Chicken recipe. I'm really fan of collecting chicken recipes and experimenting with them.
Thank you for posting this.
this sounds so delicious (minus the mushrooms)! i may have to try this tomorrow night!
Oh, I am the worst about being distracted by the internet. It's always more interesting than whatever else I have going on 🙂 Love this dish, it sounds so comforting and just perfect for this time of year!
Yummmmm! Can't wait to make this. Thanks for sharing 🙂 I LOVE mushrooms. Add some pasta and chicken? … I'm sold!
This looks so comforting! I love the pops of green color, too!
I bet this is awesome. I would have to mince up the mushrooms though. I like their flavor but not texture!
Oh man, this looks sooooo good. This defines my perfect meal!