Chicken & Bacon Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 TBS olive oil

• 1 lb chicken skinless, boneless chicken breasts*

• 1 TSP paprika

• 1 TSP Italian seasoning

• salt to taste

• 1.5 cups heavy cream

• ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded

• 5 tomatoes (medium, chopped in large cubes)

• 3 cups fresh spinach or 1 cup cooked spinach*

• 6 garlic cloves minced

• ¼ TSP red pepper flakes crushed

• 6 bacon strips cooked, drained off fat, and chopped*

• 10 oz penne pasta

• ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded, for serving*

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet, on medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook on one side on medium-high heat for 4 minutes. While it cooks, sprinkle the uncooked sides of the chicken with paprika, Italian seasoning, and salt. Flip the chicken and cook on the other side for 3 more minutes on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low-medium, flip chicken over again and cook, covered, for several minutes until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from the pan and keep chicken warm.

To the same pan without chicken add heavy cream and bring to boil. Only after the heavy cream starts boiling, add shredded Parmesan cheese. Immediately reduce to simmer (low-medium heat) and stir, while simmering, until the cheese melts and the sauce is creamy, 2 minutes.

To the same pan with the creamy sauce, add chopped tomatoes, fresh spinach, garlic, crushed red pepper. Stir in the sauce on medium heat just until the spinach starts to wilt and sinks into the sauce. Add ⅓ of the cooked chicken (sliced into small strips) and half the bacon (already cooked and drained of fat). Mix everything. Remove from heat.

In the meantime bring a large pot of water to boil, add pasta, and cook according to instructions. Drain the pasta.

Add cooked pasta to the skillet with the sauce and reheat on low heat. When ready to serve, top the pasta with the remaining half of bacon (cooked, drained of fat, chopped, gently reheated) and the remaining ⅔ of the cooked chicken (sliced into small strips, gently reheated).

When serving, top the pasta with ½ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese.

Recipe and photo credit: Julia’s Album
*In Flyer April 17-23, 2022

Roasted Broccoli Salad with Lemons & Almonds

Ingredients

• 2 heads broccoli *

• 2 TSP olive oil

• ½ TSP sea salt

• ½ cup almonds

• ¼ cup dried cranberries, or raisins

• 1 TBS chopped fresh dill

• 4 very thin slices of lemon,

• The lemony dressing

• ¼ cup lemon juice

• 2 TBS olive oil

• 1 TBS honey, or maple syrup

• 1 TSP Dijon mustard

• 1 TSP balsamic vinegar

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Instructions

Preheat your oven to broil. Place oven rack on the second to top shelf. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roughly chop the broccoli, making sure to include the sweet broccoli stems. You should have around 9 cups. Place 2 cups of broccoli in a large bowl and the rest on the baking sheet. Drizzle the broccoli on the baking sheet with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Mix it around so that all of the broccoli is coated with oil. Pop it in your oven and let it roast for 15minutes. Remove them from the oven and put them in the bowl with the raw broccoli.

Put the almonds in a small baking dish and roast them in the oven along with the broccoli for about 8 minutes. Remove them from the oven and roughly chop them. Add the almonds, cranberries, dill and lemon slices to the bowl with the broccoli.

In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients. Pour it over the broccoli and toss to coat.

Serve immediately.

Recipe and photo recipe: The Endless Meal
*In Flyer April 17-23, 2022