Pasta with White Beans, Chicken and Spinach

A pasta and chicken recipe make an appearance on our menu at least once a week. This is a healthy one that uses the white beans and chicken. (I almost always have pre-cooked chicken in the freezer, so it is a snap to prepare.)  Using white beans give the pasta a creamy texture without added fat.

Ingredients:

• 12 to 16 oz of pasta, (penne or rotini or bowtie is a good choice, our favorite is Ronzoni Smart Taste)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 5 garlic gloves, minced
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1 can white beans, drained and rinsed (I keep white beans in my freezer in 1 cup portions)
• 3 to 5 cups baby spinach ( Just depends how much spinach you want)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 cup precooked chicken
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 3/4th tsp each of basil and oregano
• Salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Boil water for pasta and cook until al dente following package directions.

2. While pasta is cooking, saute garlic and onion with 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat for about a minute, add precooked chicken and saute for another minute. Stir in beans, spinach, broth, tomato, basil and oregano and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until spinach has wilted, 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Add pasta to sauce. If the pasta seems to dry, stir in pasta cooking water 1 Tbsp. at a time until desired consistency.

5. Add salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese to taste.

Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!

*update*  I just wanted to add, sometimes I do include about a quarter cup of half n half if I have it.  This addition doesn’t add too much calorie-wise, but it does make the dish even creamier and yummier.  If you don’t have half n half, you could add more chicken broth or save a little bit of the pasta cooking water…

I saw anther version of this recipe where the cook added some diced sun-dried tomatoes.  I may add some next time…

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