Friday, April 27, 2012

Dairy Free Friday

Happy Friday!  I hope you all had a wonderful week!

Today I'm sharing my favorite recipe that I've made so far in 2012 - which happens to be both gluten and dairy free!  I found it on the blog, For the Love of Cooking.  It's my new go-to blog as she posts easy, healthy recipes.  This recipe is called Tuscan Chicken with White Beans and Spinach.  I like it because it requires very few ingredients (most of which you will have on hand), it's made in one pot, and it's a quick recipe (takes about 30 minutes from start to finish).

Ingredients:
  • 4 slices of lean bacon, cooked and chopped
  • 2 tsp olive oil (divided)
  • 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of any fat
  • Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
  • Garlic powder, to taste
  • Dried basil, to taste
  • 1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 15 oz can of white beans, rinsed & drained
  • 2 cups of baby spinach
My modifications:
  • I omitted the bacon because I knew I'd never use up a whole package of bacon. Leaving it out didn't impact the dish, in my opinion
  • I liked the bean/tomato part of the dish so much, I doubled the onion, tomatoes, and white beans so there would be more of the bean mixture.  
Here is the recipe in pictures!


Season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dried basil.  Brown the chicken thighs on medium high in 1 T of Olive Oil.  If you are vegetarian, I think it would work well to sub in your 'fake sausage' or whatever that stuff is called!

Once the chicken is brown, remove from pan, set aside, and cover with foil.  Reduce heat to medium, add additional T of Olive Oil.  Saute the onions for 4-5 minutes, until softened.  Then add the garlic and saute for another minute.

Add the tomatoes, white beans, dried basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Cook for 4-5 minutes until mixture is hot.

Add the spinach, heat until it cooked down, about 1-2 minutes.

Return chicken/juices to pan. 

It's so easy and SO good.  And relatively healthy (especially if you made it with chicken breasts instead of thighs). 

Have you made any good, new recipes lately?

19 comments:

  1. Looks easy and very good! I'm a huge fan of meals that can be made in one pot. I don't mind the cooking but clean up isn't so fun!

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  2. Oh my goodness this looks so good! Although I must admit, I NEVER omit bacon :)

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  3. Mmm Mmm! That looks so good! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. It looks really yummy! I made a corn chowder recently which was something new for me. If I ever get around to it I'll post the recipe.

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  5. I love one pot/pan dishes! Might have to try this one :) I haven't tried anything new recently....life has been busy and haven't had a chance to cook much lately :( Have a great weekend!

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  6. Looks great! Haven't cooked anything special since we left the seafood behind on the gulf coast!

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  7. Not only does that recipe look yummy, but it's something Gavin could eat, too! I might even try it this weekend!

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  8. That looks great! I am with you on the bacon. I don't eat it very often, so the package would go to waste. However, sometimes I take it out of the freezer and just chop the ends off, then put the rest back in the freezer, so you don't waste!

    I love one pot meals, and beans, so this is perfect in every way. Plus I tend to eat more chicken than anything when I eat meat.

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  9. Unfortunately I'm allergic to beans (of course), but this looks gorgeous. Do you have a nice butcher near you? I hate buying a full package of bacon too because I'll never use it, but you can always go to the butcher and ask them to cut me like 1/4lb of pancetta.

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  10. My mouth is watering. I'm so hungry right now! This looks really great. Will have to try it =) Thanks for sharing!

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  11. yum, i read a very similar recipe in cooking light and have debated making it. i just HATE cooking chicken.

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  12. Mmm! Will definitely try this, thanks!

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  13. Looks delicious! I just bookmarked this meal. Now that its starting to get warm out its time to say goodbye to the oven.

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  14. Yum! As I was reading this recipe, I was automatically thinking of eliminating the bacon. So I love that you did the same! Hate bacon! Bleh. And yes, it comes in too big of packages.

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  15. I really like recipes that make BIG meals like this and can be used for a few days for lunches and etc!

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  16. I haven't been cooking much at all lately ... just not feeling it.

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