Recipe Day: Lemon Chicken with Spinach Pasta

Every Wednesday we will be posting a yummy recipe we've tried! We tried this one last night. It is really good!

It was taken from the Sparkpeople Cookbook. It's only $17.97 on Amazon! Click on the link to see it. I love this cookbook!

Email us if you have any questions about this recipe:  golladayfit@gmail.com

Lemon Chicken with Spinach Pasta


You can mix up the sauce and marinade for this tasty dish before work, then cook the chicken and pasta when you get home. Thirty minutes and about 350 calories later, you have a filling, healthy meal. Add a serving of steamed broccoli and a cup of milk for a full meal.

Makes 4 Servings:
3-4 oz. chicken and 1 c pasta per serving

1 Hour 15 min. to prepare and cook

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 lemon, zested and juiced
3 Tbsp white wine or rice-wine vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white or black pepper
8 oz. whole-wheat penne
4 cups spinach, washed and trimmed

1. Prepare a glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Trim chicken of any remaining fat. Place chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and use a meat mallet, rolling pin, or the bottom of a heavy pan to pound the meat until it is 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Slice each breast into four strips and place into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the sliced onions rings over the chicken.

2. Prepare the marinade. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. Pour half the mixture over the chicken and onions and reserve the second half for the sauce. Marinate in the fridge for 30 min. up to 8 hours (we marinated it over night).

3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cover with foil and bake chicken and onions for 30 min.

4. While the chicken is cooking, cook the pasta according to the package directions until al dente (firm to the bite). Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water before draining the pasta. Return the pasta and the reserved pasta water to the pan. Add the spinach, cooking until it wilts. Add the reserved marinade mixture and heat just until warm. Serve with cooked chicken.

Per serving:  353.6 calories, 6 g total fat, 65.7 mg cholesterol, 238.3 mg sodium, 47 g total carbs, 8.1 g dietary fiber, 34.4 protein