White Chicken Chili & Spaghetti Squash
I love spaghetti squash. I mean, what could be better than an all-natural version of one of my FAVORITE foods in the world? Lately I’ve been in a spaghetti squash rut. I’ve been searching high and low for something different than my standard Spaghetti Squash with Spicy meat sauce.
Luckily, I stumbled across this post by Green Dog Wine for some white chicken chili she tossed on top of spaghetti squash. Sounded like an awesome combo to me!
Since Monday was a holiday, my usual Sunday-Cooktacular was pushed back a day. Here’s a shot of some of my inventory:
That doesn’t even include the 2 turkey sausages and 1 chicken breast I grilled up along with the 4 servings of White Chicken chili this recipe makes! I’m a cooking machine!
Alright, on to the main event: White Chicken Chilli!
First up, I heated up a skillet that I sprayed down with cooking spray. Once the skillet was hot, I tossed in a cup of a chopped white onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic.
A few minutes later the onions were looking nice and caramelized, so I plopped three chicken breasts seasoned with S&P into the skillet right on top of the onions and garlic.
Once the chicken was cooked through, I added the following to the pan:
- 1 can Navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can rotel tomatoes
- 1 packet McCormick’s White Chicken Chili seasoning
- 1 cup all-natural free range chicken broth
I gave everything a good stir, then popped the lid on and reduced the heat to a simmer.
Meanwhile, I halved two baby spaghetti squash and tossed them onto a cookie sheet. Into a 415 degree oven for 25 minutes (since these guys were so tiny, I shortened the cooking time).
While the squash was cooking, I pulled the chicken breasts out of the chili mix and gave them a rough shred using two forks (just like I do when I make my buffalo chicken dip). I tossed the shredded chicken back into the chili just in time for the spaghetti squash to be done.
I used a fork to scrape out all the squash noodles… Squadles, perhaps? 😉
Then, I divided the squash evenly between two containers to take to work for late-night dinners at the office:
When it was time to eat, I topped one of the containers of squash off with one quarter of the white chicken chili mixture:
This is going into my spaghetti squash roatation for sure! The chili was delicious even without the squash, but I like the extra texture and flavor that the squash adds.
White Chicken Chili Ingredient List (serves four)
- 1 cup white onion, chopped
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- S&P
- 1 can Navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can rotel tomatoes
- 1 packet McCormick’s White Chicken Chili seasoning
- 1 cup all-natural free range chicken broth
- Spaghetti squash (optional)
Myfitnesspal stats on one serving chili: 293 calories, 39 carbs, 5g fat, 33g protein, 10g fiber
White Chicken Chili & Spaghetti Squash
I love spaghetti squash. I mean, what could be better than an all-natural version of one of my FAVORITE foods in the world? Lately I’ve been in a spaghetti squash rut. I’ve been searching high and low for something different than my standard Spaghetti Squash with Spicy meat sauce.
Luckily, I stumbled across this post by Green Dog Wine for some white chicken chili she tossed on top of spaghetti squash. Sounded like an awesome combo to me!
Since Monday was a holiday, my usual Sunday-Cooktacular was pushed back a day. Here’s a shot of some of my inventory:
That doesn’t even include the 2 turkey sausages and 1 chicken breast I grilled up along with the 4 servings of White Chicken chili this recipe makes! I’m a cooking machine!
Alright, on to the main event: White Chicken Chilli!
First up, I heated up a skillet that I sprayed down with cooking spray. Once the skillet was hot, I tossed in a cup of a chopped white onion and 2 cloves of minced garlic.
A few minutes later the onions were looking nice and caramelized, so I plopped three chicken breasts seasoned with S&P into the skillet right on top of the onions and garlic.
Once the chicken was cooked through, I added the following to the pan:
- 1 can Navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can rotel tomatoes
- 1 packet McCormick’s White Chicken Chili seasoning
- 1 cup all-natural free range chicken broth
I gave everything a good stir, then popped the lid on and reduced the heat to a simmer.
Meanwhile, I halved two baby spaghetti squash and tossed them onto a cookie sheet. Into a 415 degree oven for 25 minutes (since these guys were so tiny, I shortened the cooking time).
While the squash was cooking, I pulled the chicken breasts out of the chili mix and gave them a rough shred using two forks (just like I do when I make my buffalo chicken dip). I tossed the shredded chicken back into the chili just in time for the spaghetti squash to be done.
I used a fork to scrape out all the squash noodles… Squadles, perhaps? 😉
Then, I divided the squash evenly between two containers to take to work for late-night dinners at the office:
When it was time to eat, I topped one of the containers of squash off with one quarter of the white chicken chili mixture:
This is going into my spaghetti squash roatation for sure! The chili was delicious even without the squash, but I like the extra texture and flavor that the squash adds.
White Chicken Chili Ingredient List (serves four)
- 1 cup white onion, chopped
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
- S&P
- 1 can Navy beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can rotel tomatoes
- 1 packet McCormick’s White Chicken Chili seasoning
- 1 cup all-natural free range chicken broth
- Spaghetti squash (optional)
Myfitnesspal stats on one serving chili: 293 calories, 39 carbs, 5g fat, 33g protein, 10g fiber
Chicken and Barley Salad
School is back in session – which means it is officially the end of summer in my book. In honor of this self-declared change in seasons, I decided to make one last summer salad for dinner Monday night.
The January 2010 issue of Cooking Light featured a recipe for Greek Chicken and Barley salad which was my inspiration and starting point to my dinner.
First up, I seasoned a few chicken breasts with McCormick’s Montreal Chicken Seasoning and tossed them on to the George Foreman grill. I only used 4 ounces of chicken in this recipe, but grill once eat thrice I always say.
When the chicken was done grilling, I roughly shred four ounces of it:
Meanwhile I brought 1 cup of Nature’s Basket Free Range Chicken Broth (fat-free and low sodium) to a boil, then tossed in 1/2 cup Quaker’s Quick Barley and cooked according to the package instructions.
Next I got to choppin the veggies. For this salad I used:
- 1 roma tomato
- 1 large cucumber, seeded
- 1/2 a yellow bell pepper
- 1/4 cup of reduced fat Atheno’s feta cheese
In a small bowl, I mixed together a yummy dressing for the salad:
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp water
- 1/8 tsp each salt, black pepper, ground thyme
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
Once the chicken and barley were cooled off, I added them to my veggies and feta, added the dressing, and tossed to combine.
I put the salad in the fridge to let the flavors merry while I cleaned up the inevitable disaster I created in my kitchen.
Dinner time!
This salad was light and the veggies were so crisp. I really REALLY like the dressing, and I had forgotten how yummy barley is. I will miss you summer salads… but I won’t lie. I’m looking forward to some dinner SOUPS!!
Chicken & Barley Salad Ingredient List (makes two servings):
- 4 ounces grilled chicken
- 1 cup Nature’s Basket Free Range Chicken Broth
- 1/2 cup Quaker’s Quick Barley
- 1 roma tomato
- 1 large cucumber, seeded (or 1 seedless cucumeber)
- 1/2 a yellow bell pepper
- 1/4 cup Athenos reduced fat feta
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp water
- 1/8 tsp each salt, black pepper, ground thyme
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp dried basil
Myfitnesspal stats on one serving: 309 calories, 37g carbs, 5g fat, 26g protein, 6g fiber