Chicken Pesto Pasta with Spinach

admin — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 09:03:08 +0000

It’s interesting how sometimes things just fall together. Yesterday afternoon I was staring at some defrosted chicken breasts, not knowing what to do with them for dinner. I put them in a skillet to cook and then rummaged through my cupboards and my fridge, looking for things to add.
Well, once it was done, I was happy to hear the “Mmm’s” of my family while they were eating it. And you know how honest your kids can be. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard, “Mom, what are those black things? I don’t like black things.”

This quick, seat-of-my-pants dish was so easy, healthful and well received that I shared a photo in my newsfeeds. Because there were so many comments asking for the recipe (which is embarrassingly easy), I decided to share it with all of you. I have three “hefty” eaters in my home, along with me and my daughter, so I make camp-sized meals. If you want to cut the ingredients in half, it should work well, too.

5 chicken breasts
1 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
1 medium bag fresh spinach
¾ cup pesto (homemade or in a jar)
6 plum tomatoes, diced and seeded
1 bag rice pasta – orzo

Sautee chicken in oil in a skillet on medium temperature. In a saucepan, boil water for pasta and cook according to directions on package. Once chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan and cut it into chunks. Add chicken to pan again and add pesto sauce and spinach. Cook on medium to medium-low, stirring occasionally until spinach is wilted. Add tomatoes and cover for a few minutes so they can cook down.

When the pasta is done cooking, pour it into a strainer and run hot water through it. This removes some of the extra starch that makes rice pasta sticky. Add pasta to skillet, stir well and serve. Feeds 6 hearty eaters.

The post Chicken Pesto Pasta with Spinach first appeared on Sherri Seligson.

Recipe – Mediterranean Meat Loaf (gluten free version, too!)

admin — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 14:45:17 +0000

I wanted to share one of my family’s favorite ways to have meatloaf. It is a healthful way to prepare this traditional American meal using lots of fresh and tasty ingredients. And when this dish is cooking in the oven, be prepared for a stampede from the household as its amazing aromas filter around the house.

One time, we had it for dinner when one of my son’s friends was eating with us. As he was eating, he would slowly chew each bite and mumble, “MMmmthere’s cheese in it-mmm-there’s cheese.”

I am not kidding about the way this makes your home smell, too. We’ve had delivery guys at the door capture a whiff and begin to linger, asking more about what’s in the oven.

And the best part, you can easily double or triple this to freeze some for later meals.

The recipe does not originate from me, but came from my sister-in-law, Cindy, who found it somewhere else. I would love to know the original source so I could give appropriate credit (leave a comment if you know), but as with most recipes, my sister-in-law changed a few things and then I changed a few things, so it may not resemble the original recipe much at all!

Well, here it is! Enjoy!

2 lbs. ground beef
¼ cup minced fresh parsley
1 cup bread crumbs (gluten free, use 1 cup almond flour)
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
4 garlic cloves, minced (don’t worry, everyone else will have garlic breath, too, so it’s all good)
2 large eggs
1 cup minced fresh green onions
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Add all ingredients to pan.

Mix with your hands until everything is just combined. You may want to remove your rings for this; you can see that I forgot.

I usually keep my rings in this adorable tiny tagine given to me by my friend, Maggie. It is a safe place to keep them while I’m cooking (If I remember to do it).

Mold into two loaves in a 13 x 5 inch loaf pan. Don’t press them into the pan. The juices will run out more freely this way, and you will be able to remove the cooked loaves more easily onto a serving platter.

Bake at 375˚F for 1 hour. Note that baking times may vary depending on your oven. We had an old dinosaur of an oven until recently, and I had to bake this recipe for 1 hour and 15 minutes in it. Just keep a close watch after 1 hour.

Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes (it will continue to cook inside) before slicing. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you double this recipe, mold the two extra loaves and place them onto a cookie sheet that has parchment or wax paper on it. Cover them in foil or plastic wrap and put them in the freezer for a few hours. Then you can remove them from the cookie sheet and put them into a freezer bag for later use. I like to take the frozen loaves and put them directly in a crock pot (before it is turned on). Then I let them cook on low for the day – you can even throw some carrots and potatoes into the pot, and dinner is DONE!

The post Recipe – Mediterranean Meat Loaf (gluten free version, too!) first appeared on Sherri Seligson.

Happy Gut Cooking - Sherri Seligson

Chicken Pesto Pasta with Spinach

Recipe – Mediterranean Meat Loaf (gluten free version, too!)