Low-Fat Creamy Spinach Chicken Pasta

Note this requires at least 4 hours of marinating, so plan ahead!

Place the chicken tenderloins into a gallon-sized zip-lock bag along with the yogurt, seasonings and lemon juice. Seal the bag and gently shake or massage the bag until all the chicken is covered. Place in a bowl in the refrigerator and marinate for 4-6 hours.

Using a food processor with a medium blade (a blender would probably work as well) blend or puree the cottage cheese until smooth. Pour it into a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, seasonings, and spinach and set aside.

Time to cook the chicken. Using a medium to large pan, grease with any pan spray and set heat on medium. Once hot, place the chicken tenderloins on. Tenderloins are small and thin cuts so it won’t take long to cook them. After 3 or 4 minutes flip them over and continue cooking until they are no longer pink inside. Try not to overcook. Remove chicken from pan. At this point you can cut the chicken into bite sized pieces or leave whole. I opted to cut into small pieces.

Turn heat down just a bit to a low medium setting and pour in the cottage cheese mixture. Gently stir every few minutes. As it simmers, add the cornstarch into the milk in a small bowl or cup and stir until complete dissolved. Pour this into the cheese sauce and bring to a quick boil then lower heat back down to a simmer.

Add the cooked pasta and chicken and mix well. If you find that it is too creamy for your liking just add another tablespoon of milk. On the hand, if you want it to be even thicker, add another 1/2 cup pasta. That will absorb any extra liquid and leave you with a creamier dish. There you have it. Enjoy!

Notes:
1. Make sure your spinach is completely drained. I put mine in a small colander and using the bottom of a measuring cup pressed all the excess liquid out.
2. Recipe makes 6 one-cup servings. 1 cup is approximately 300 calories.