Simple Spinach Salad

Ease: 5/5     Kid-friendliness: 3/5     Taste: 3.5/5     Time: 5/5

Prep: 7 minutes
Cook time: 1 minute

This is a super fast, super easy, but super tasty spinach salad. Makes a terrific side and I just love the dressing!

What you'll need:

• 12 oz or 350 g pre-washed baby spinach
• 2 oranges
• 1/4 C lowest fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 C french vanilla yogurt (low fat)
• 1/4 tsp poppy seeds
• 1/4 tsp milk (optional)
• handful of croutons or cranberries (optional)

Rinse spinach leaves under cold water in salad spinner and spin dry. Place in salad bowl. Slice orange wedges and toss into greens. Set aside in fridge.

Combine mayonnaise, yogurt, and poppy seeds in a small bowl in that order. Whisk together (you may want to whisk in a bit of milk if you like your dressing a bit runny). 

Toss a handful of your choice of croutons or cranberries into the spinach, drizzle with the dressing and toss again. Serve! Fresh and Yummy!

Recipe adapted from:
 

Chicken and Spinach Pesto Pasta

Ease: 3/5     Kid-friendliness: 4/5     Taste: 4/5     Ease: 3.5/5

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

I love pine nuts. Love them. And pesto. And my family loves pesto. So I thought I'd try my hand at making some homemade pesto. On the plus side, my husband (my biggest critic), said it tasted better than the jarred stuff (YES!). On the downside, I found it a bit high maintenance. Any recipe that requires me to use a blender, a pot AND a pan, is a lot in my books.

This pesto has a nice mild flavor.

What you'll need:

• garlic, 1 small clove
• 2 Tbsp pine nuts
• 1 1/4 C baby spinach
• 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 C olive oil 
• 2 Tbsp butter or margarine
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 lb whole wheat rotini noodles (really, any noodle would work)
• 2 C cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 C feta cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. In a blender (or food processor), combine the garlic, pine nuts, spinach, and 1/4 C of the parmesan cheese. Chop. You will have to stop a couple of times to scrape down the edges. With the machine still running, gradually add the oil from the hole or spout in the top. Season with 1/4 tsp salt and a couple of grindings of ground pepper.

Add 1 Tbsp of salt to the boiling water. Add the pasta. Cook, stirring occasionally until al dente, according to package directions (~14 minutes). Drain; reserving ~ 1/2 C of the cooking water. Add the chicken to a large serving bowl.

While the pasta is cooking, over medium-high heat, melt the butter or margarine. Add the chicken and cook, until heated through and no longer pink (~ 5-8 minutes). Add the chicken to the serving bowl along with the pesto, feta cheese and remaining 1/4 C parmesan cheese. Toss, adding as much cooking water as required to make a nice consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve!

Adapted fromWilliams-Sonoma The Weeknight Cook: Fresh and Simple Recipes for Good Food Everyday, chicken and arugula pesto pasta recipe.

Baked Parmesan Chicken

Ease: 4/5     Taste: 5/5     Kid-friendliness: 3/5     Time: 3/5

Parmesan chicken is one of my husband's favourites. It's a good Father's Day dish. Of course, he likes his battered but that's adding a whole n'other step, not to mention a bunch of fat we don't need. Both my kids love pasta sauce too, so recipes that "mask" meat and veggies using pasta sauce, are always on my list.

This is a favourite recipe from my current favourite cook book: Williams-Sonoma The Weeknight Cook: Fresh & Simple Recipes for Good Food Everyday

Truth moment: I don't know what kale is so I used spinach (the black blobs in the picture) I had in my fridge that would otherwise have gone out with the trash this week.

If you're looking to reduce the fat, use less cheese as I find this recipe calls for a lot of cheese.

What you'll need:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 bunch spinach (or kale), stems removed and leaves torn into large pieces 
• 2 C purchased tomato-basil pasta sauce (my favorite is Prego)
• 8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 C fresh parmesan cheese, grated (I used about half this amount)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and brown both sides, turning once (~7 minutes). Remove to a plate.

Add the spinach to the pan and saute over medium-high heat until wilted,~ 1 minute. Return the chicken to the pan and pour the tomato sauce over the chicken and spinach. Place 2 mozzarella cheese slices (I only used one) on each chicken breast and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake until the cheese is golden and the chicken is cooked, about 20 minutes. Serve to your husband with a kiss!