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–+ servings

Mediterranean Inspired Chicken Dinner

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Dinner
Cuisine #Canadian, Mediterranean
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 - 28 oz can of Roma tomatoes
  • 1 can artichoke hearts
  • 1 cup chicken or vegetable broth or water
  • 1 cup pitted black olives
  • 6 mushrooms finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 2 cups fresh spinach chopped
  • 1 tsp. chili flakes
  • 1 cup basil chopped
  • 4 half chicken breasts
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 4 oz. feta cheese
  • Basil for garnish
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1 lb orzo (or noodles of your choice)

Zucchini Noodles (instead of pasta noodles)

  • 3 medium size zucchini
  • 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • Salt and Pepper to taste.

Instructions
 

Prepare Chicken Breasts

  • Cut chicken breasts so that they are all the same size and thickness, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Prepare Feta

  • Remove feta from the water and towel dry. Cut feta into thin slices, set aside.

Prepare Sauce

  • Chop garlic, mushrooms, spinach, basil.
  • In a large saucepan, add 1 tbsp. olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, chili flakes. Saute until the mushrooms are golden, approximately 5 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, artichoke hearts, broth or water.
  • Once the sauce comes to a boil, add chopped spinach, chopped basil, and drizzle with remaining olive oil.

Poach Chicken

  • Gently, place the chicken filets on top of the sauce and cover with a lid to allow the steam to poach the chicken. Approximately 15 minutes. Add olives.
  • Place a thin slice of feta on top of each chicken breast. Replace the lid and continue poaching for an additional 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Pasta

  • If using pasta, prepare according to the instructions on the package. Rinse and toss with a little olive oil.

Zucchini Noodles (instead of pasta)

  • Trim and spiralize the zucchini (see notes below for how to do this without a spiralizer). Cut extra-long noodles so that they are about the length of spaghetti.   (I have a small hand spiralizer that was super cheap and it is easy to use.)

How to make Zucchini Noodles without a Spiralizer

  • The spiralizer is not the only way to make noodles. You can use a standard vegetable peeler to make wide noodles or ribbons or use a mandoline to create thin noodles.
  • Add olive oil, garlic, and the red pepper flakes to a large, deep skillet. Turn to medium heat. When the oil is hot add the zucchini noodles. Toss the noodles with pasta tongs and cook until al dente — they should be wilted, but still, have a crunch;  approximately 5 minutes.
    Do not let the noodles cook any longer or else they will become mushy. As they cook, keep tossing so that all the zucchini noodles have a chance to hit the bottom of the skillet.
  • Stir in the basil and parmesan cheese. Cook for one minute.

How to Serve

  • Remove the chicken from the sauce pan and set aside.
  • Using pasta tongs place a nice portion of pasta noodles or zucchini noodles in the middle of your dinner plates.
  • Top the noodles with a generous amount of sauce.
  • Top the sauce and noodles with a piece of chicken, then garnish with basil.

Notes

Enjoy!
Keyword #chicken, #pastasauce, zucchinispaghetti
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