...A Culinary Genius(?)...

My Grandparents came over yesterday to help me build my second raised bed. Since Grandaddy is the Master Gardener, he is the owner of a Master Garden that is already producing a lot of...well...produce. It's producing produce. Grandma brought me mixed greens, spinach, turnips, and asparagus; however, our very own little backyard garden has begun to yield mixed greens already, AND I bought some at the store last weekend. Needless to say, my Frigidaire is slightly run over with roughage. I decided to create a dish around spinach tonight, and it was actually pretty good, so I am going to share it with you.  I threw this together as I went along, so the measurements are approximations and can be adjusted to suit your own personal taste. This served two people (one who eats like a horse) with a small amount left over.

Garden Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cup chopped fresh Spinach
3/4 cup halved Grape Tomatoes
1/4 tsp Minced Garlic
3/4 cup Chicken Broth
3 tbsp Fresh Salsa (You could sub diced tomatoes if no salsa was available)
3 cups Pasta (your choice; I used spaghetti because it was plentiful in our pantry) cooked
3 fresh Basil leaves, chopped
Garlic Salt, Sea Salt, Pepper to taste

- Cube the chicken breasts and season to taste using the Garlic Salt, Sea Salt, and Pepper.
- Place chicken in a skillet (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) over Medium heat.
- Prep the Spinach and Tomatoes while chicken cooks (about 10 minutes), and begin boiling the water for the pasta.
- Once chicken is cooked, add Chicken Broth to skillet, then add Spinach, Tomatoes, Minced Garlic, Basil, and Salsa.
- Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to Low.  Let skillet simmer for the entire time pasta is cooking (approx. 9 minutes). Do not remove skillet from heat until Spinach is wilted.
- Drain pasta and any excess liquid from skillet. Combine pasta with chicken mixture, add parmesan cheese, pasta sauce of your choice (I used marinara), and enjoy!

I just thought this was a pretty shot of the skillet immediately after I added the Spinach and Tomatoes to the chicken. Also, disclaimer, this looks like A LOT more Spinach than it really is!

Patrick gave this dish 8 out of 10 stars.

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