CHicken Pasta Pow Wow

It's Friday night. I wanted something filling and delicious so off to the market I go in search of luscious ingredients. Hubby says he will be happy with box spaghetti and jar of pasta sauce, (who are we kidding here!) and daughter no longer eats chicken. It seems in cooking class, of all things, they were shown a movie about where things come from and she is turned off to the idea of Tyson chicken nuggets! Of course, now all chicken is suspect. I do not believe those frozen chicken nuggets have ever entered my home, save for the occasional lapse and trip to Mickie Dee's when said daughter was a wee one. But I digress..

At the market- Well, there were baby Bella mushrooms, fresh spinach, spring onions, cauliflower and chicken and fresh pasta are on sale. Home again, home again, jiggety...you get the idea.

Recipe follows- it was sublime (I am bragging, but hubby enjoyed at least 3 portions.) Daughter had plain whole wheat pasta with shredded cheese, wonderful. serves 4-6

Ingredients:

8 oz fresh Bella mushrooms, rinsed and sliced

1 bag fresh spinach (I always rinse, totally up to you if you wan to skip this step)

4 cloves garlic, minced, chopped

olive oil

1/2 container grape tomatoes

thin sliced chicken breasts, about a pound

1/2 bag (8 oz) shredded Italian cheese mix (provolone, mozzarella, asiago, Parmesan) or use whatever Italian type cheese you have on hand. I like to mix at least one hard cheese (Romano/Parmesan) with one soft- provolone/mozzarella or asiago, my favorite

2 packages fresh linguine pasta (I used one whole wheat, one regular)
McCormick's Grater Italian Seasoning

Put pot of water on for pasta.

Saute chicken and 1/2 of the garlic in tsp of olive oil, then transfer to cutting board and chop into bite size strips. Add mushrooms to skillet and saute 2 min. Remove to bowl with chicken.

Add spinach to same skillet, add a little more olive oil if you need to. Saute until wilted, about 2-3 min. Add tomatoes and saute another 2 min. Add pasta to rapidly boiling water and add 1 tbsp salt. Boil for only 2 minutes. Then drain pasta and transfer to large serving bowl. Add chicken and mushrooms to skillet and heat, then add cheese and let melt for 1 minute. Pour chicken, cheese mixture on the pasta and mix lightly with tongs until well blended. 

I made my roasted cauliflower and green onions, (head of fresh cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces,  olive oil, 3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal, salt and pepper, 400 degrees on a sheet pan lined with foil for 25 min) and tossed that on the side. Hubby likes everything separate but it would be dynamite mixed in (I mixed mine in with the pasta). Add salt and pepper to taste. I use the McCormick's grating one that has Italian seasoning with the pepper and it was delicious.