Creamy Gnocchi Soup with Spinach – Warm, Creamy Goodness!!!

Tags

Carrots, creamy, Gnocchi Soup, low-fat, spinach, vegetarian

I just love gnocchi!! They are wonderful, fluffy little pillows of potato-ey goodness! Now you add some veggies and a generous amount of creamy sauce and you have a tasty, comforting soup that will warm your soul this fall and winter! This creamy sauce could get out of control with the fat content, but in an effort to keep this reasonable I used fat free creamer to keep the fat content down. I also used pre-made gnocchi, which made this dish quick and easy to make. 

Leaving out the chicken would easily make this a delicious and still hearty vegetarian meal!

Creamy Gnocchi Soup With Spinach

3 -4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cooked and diced (I baked it for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees)

4 cups fat free chicken stock (I used my home made stock)

2 cups fat free half-and-half

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

1⁄2 carrot, shredded (Use a vegetable peeler or julianne)

1⁄2 onion, diced

1 cup fresh spinach, chopped

1/2 teaspoon thyme

salt and pepper

16 ounces pre-made potato gnocchi (You can find this in the pasta aisle)

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

Spray a frying pan with non-stick spray. Saute the onion, garlic, carrot over medium heat until onion is translucent.

Mix cornstarch and 2-3 tbsp of half and half in a small bowl until smooth, set aside. Add chicken, chicken stock, half and half, salt and pepper, thyme to frying pan and then stir in cornstarch mixture. Heat to boiling, then add gnocchi. Gently boil for 4 minutes, then turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Add spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.

Enjoy!!!

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Pasta – Our Family’s All-time Favorite Pasta Dish

Tags

Cheese, Chicken, creamy, pasta, Pasta with Chicken and Pepper Cheese Sauce, pepper, recipe, spicy

My sister has been telling me I need to blog this recipe, so here we are! I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine probably over 20 years ago and have been making it ever since! The spicy, creamy sauce over pasta and chicken is so very delicious! It has just the right amount of spice! It’s a nice enough dish to serve to company and it’s an easy dish to multiply in order to serve a large group. This was a favorite when our large family group would go to Tahoe for snowy get-aways. The teenagers loved coming in from playing in the snow to this spicy, warm dish!

I chose to keep the dish as low-fat as possible by using fat free dairy ingredients. You can change it to low-fat or full-fat ingredients based on your taste.

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Pasta

3 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 tsp tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs), cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp seeded, chopped jalapeno pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

3/4 cup fat free chicken broth

1/2 cup fat free milk

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup fat free Monterey Jack or motzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup fat free sour cream

8 oz linguine or spaghetti, cooked and drained

Combine 1 tbsp of the flour, salt, and ground peppers; toss with the chicken to coat. In a large skillet heat oil and cook chicken 4-5 minutes or till tender. Remove chicken; add onion, red pepper, jalapeno pepper and garlic. Cook until tender. Stir in remaining flour. Add broth, milk and Worcestershire sauce; cook and stir until bubbly. Shir in cheese until melted. Stir in sour cream. Add chicken and heat through (do not boil). Serve over pasta. Makes 5-6 servings.

Enjoy!

Chipotle Cream Chicken – Yes, You Can Make Delicious & Lowfat Cream Sauce!!!

Tags

Chicken, Chipotle, Cooking, cream sauce, creamy, Food, peppers, sour cream, spicy

  
Man! The sauce really makes this dish! The chipotle peppers add the right amount of burn and the creaminess counteracts this, so it’s not over the top. It has this bold, yet soothing flavor that could be great served in a number of ways! Last night I browned some chicken and served it over that. I had plenty of sauce left over, so today I used it as a dipping sauce for the avocado egg rolls that I made. DELISH!!!

I love cream sauces! They are so decadent, but they can also be fattening, so this is where you have to think through your ingredients. For this recipe, I used one of my favorite ingredients, fat free sour cream. Fat Free Greek yogurt might work well too. Fat Free Sour Cream just never lets me down! I get the thick, tart, creaminess without a load of fat and calories. And hey! We girls need our calcium! Right!?!

I served my chicken over some easy salsa rice (instant brown rice, Pace Picante, water and frozen corn). I also made some baked avocado rolls with salsa verde for dipping. Overall, this was a great meal! The chicken with the creamy chipotle sauce was definitely the star though!

Creamy Chipotle Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts

1 tbsp coconut oil

Salt and pepper

1 cup fat free sour cream

1 cup 1% milk

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1/4 cup fat free cream cheese

In a skillet, over medium heat Coke coconut oil until melted and the add chicken. Salt and pepper chicken on each side as it cooks. While this is cooking, put your sour cream, milk, peppers and cream cheese in a sauce pot and blend with your immersion blender until smooth (or put in food processor to blend and then pour in sauce pot). Warm over medium heat. When your chicken is a nice golden brown on each side, pour the chipotle sauce over the chicken and let simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. There will be plenty of sauce, so serve over rice or noodles.

Enjoy the creamy, spicy goodness!!!