Kitchen: Chicken Tri-Color

Chicken Tri-Color over bow-tie pasta

This is one of my favorite dinners.  Bow-tie pasta is the perfect pasta for this dish.  

Chicken Tri-Color over Bow-Tie Pasta

(serves 6)

• Chicken breast or breast tenders. roughly 1/2 a chicken breast or two tenders per serving cut into bite size pieces. Brown in a little olive oil. (to speed up the process, begin with boneless, skinless breast or tenders...left-over chicken cut into bite-sized pieces will also work, however--if previously cooked chicken is used--wait to add as the last ingredient.)  

• 1 large yellow or white onion (dried minced works well in this, too 2 or 3 TB) 

•  3 TB dried basil

• 1/2 to 1 tsp anise seed (optional--we like the strong licorice overtones it adds)

• 1-15 oz can + 1-8 oz can of diced tomatoes (whole tomatoes will also work if you chop them up a little--I sometimes use the tomatoes that have basil already in them--if you have garden tomatoes--Go for it and pat yourself on the back! (3-8 oz cans will also do fine--and if you are not making 6 servings--cut back to two cans of tomatoes or one large)

• Fresh Baby Spinach washed(equal to 2-3 servings)

• 2 small to medium yellow squash (crookneck is best, any will do--you can even substitute another summer squash like zucchini)

• Serve over Bow-Tie pasta (cooked according to package directions and how many servings you are making)

• top with a little extra virgin olive oil, grated cheese (we like a blend of 6 Italian cheeses, but in the photo we used a smoked string cheese), olives, and raw pepitas for a little crunch. 

 

•  Chicken Tri-Color Ingredients only link

 

 Preparation

Fairly simple procedure--begin by cutting raw chicken into bite size pieces--remember they will shrink a little.  Brown the chicken in a pan.  (For better browning, use a little larger pan, or don't place as much chicken in the pan at a time as shown here...I was rushing things a bit...

brown the chicken, adding chopped onion or dried minced onion & spices

Season the browning chicken with salt and pepper to taste, adding chopped onions or dried minced onion, basil, and anise seed.

add the tomatoes

Add the tomatoes and allow to simmer about 10 minutes.  

ease the washed baby spinach in--this is only half the bag

The baby spinach will need to be "eased" into the pot, a little at a time.  We are just trying to "wilt" the spinach, not "cook" it.

lastly add the thinly sliced yellow squash 

Thinly slice the washed yellow squash and add it too the pot while the spinach is wilting.
We think the yellow squash is best when slightly undercooked, but you could cook it longer.

plated over bow-tie pasta

It is pretty to look at...and very tasty, and on the "healthy" meal side you could use a whole grain pasta or brown rice pasta or skip the pasta altogether and serve it on a bed of spaghetti squash.  You could use a nut based cheese.  What is on sale, what do you have in the cupboard (or from your garden)...these recipes are not "exact"-- substitutions are expected!  You could use canned chicken and frozen spinach...though the result would not be quite as satisfying.