Chicken Florentine Rice Bake

This recipe was inspired by Tiffany at Eat at Home!  She posted a recipe for an Italian Chicken and Rice Casserole that sounded delicious.  

I took that idea and ran with it - using what we had in our fridge and freezer to create a make-ahead rice bake.  

Chicken Florentine Rice Bake

1-2 chicken breasts, diced

1 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves (or 1 tsp. garlic powder)
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 C brown rice, uncooked
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (15oz) chicken broth
1 C spinach
1/2 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1 C shredded Italian cheeses

Begin by dicing up the chicken and cooking it in a large skillet coated with olive oil over medium heat.

Season with garlic powder, and pepper and cook until chicken is browned and cooked through.

Meanwhile, slice up the mushrooms, and lay them in the bottom of a lightly greased 8x8 glass baking dish.

Remove the chicken from the skillet when cooked, and place atop the mushrooms. Sprinkle with parsley.

Then, pour the uncooked brown rice into the skillet.

Add the tomatoes, chicken broth and seasoning.

Bring to a simmer and cook about 5 minutes. Then, add in the spinach. I used frozen.

Simmer until spinach is wilted.

Then, pour into the lightly greased 8x8 baking dish containing the chicken and mushrooms.

There will be lots of excess liquid -- and that's good!

At this point, you can cover and refrigerate the dish until you need it. If you are baking immediately, continue with the directions below.

Preheat the oven to 350. Meanwhile, sprinkle the dish with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for ~45 minutes until the liquid is absorbed, rice is tender and cheese is lightly browned.  

Allow the dish to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Linked to: Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Delicious Dishes, Tuesdays at the Table, Made From Scratch Tuesday, Delectable Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, URS

Make-Ahead Spinach Pasta Bake

This pasta dish is a new fav -- and I'm pretty sure it will be at your house too.  

I put this dish together the night before, using uncooked pasta to make the prep even easier.  Then, the next evening, we baked it for ~45 minutes at 350 until it was lightly browned and bubbly.  

Make-Ahead Spinach Pasta Bake


1 lb. whole wheat penne pasta
8 oz tomato paste
2 C tomato or spaghetti sauce* (either crockpot or quick)
1 C pureed carrots
2 tsp. dried oregano
~5 C fresh spinach, rinsed and trimmed
3 C cottage cheese
1 C Italian blend shredded cheese, or mozzarella

*If you use tomato sauce rather than spaghetti, add in some onion too for extra flavor.

Begin by combining the tomato paste with the pureed carrots, and spices.

Then, mix in the spaghetti sauce.

Spread 1-2 large ladle-sized scoops of the tomato-carrot mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  

Place 1/2 of the whole wheat pasta noodles, uncooked, over the spaghetti sauce mixture.  Then, spread ~2 1/2 C of fresh spinach over the pasta.    

Spread 1/2 of the cottage cheese over the spinach leaves.  

Top with another 2 ladles of sauce.  

Scatter the remaining half the noodles over the sauce layer.  

Repeat the spinach and cottage cheese layers.  

Spread sauce over the top.  Ideally, you'll have just a bit more sauce on the top than in the photo.    

Cover, and refrigerate over night.  

The following evening, remove the pasta dish from the fridge, and uncover.  

Sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.  Ours was a mix of Parm, Asiago, Provolone and Mozzarella.  

Bake at 350 for ~45 minutes.  For the first 20ish minutes, cover with a cookie sheet to keep the moisture in the dish.  After 20 minutes, uncover and cook an additional 20 minutes until cheese is lightly browned.

Allow the pasta bake to sit for ~5 minutes before serving.  We recommend serving it with Olive Garden Bread Sticks.

Enjoy!!

Linked to: Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, What's on Your Plate? Works for Me Wednesday, What's Cooking Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Things I Love Thursday. Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mouthwatering Monday, Mangia Monday, Ingredient Spotlight.

Chicken Spinach & Mushroom Skillet

Mushrooms and spinach are such a delightful pair.  When I saw this chicken and spinach dish from Jenny it immediately made it on our menu.

We absolutely loved this dish -- and we can't wait to make it this summer when we can break out the grill and grill the chicken!!

Chicken Spinach and Mushroom Skillet - Adapted from Love Being in My Southern Kitchen

4 chicken breasts
Montreal Chicken/Steak seasoning
3 C fresh spinach, washed and trimmed
16 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1-2 tsp. olive oil
Shredded cheese (we used Mozzarella, Provolone, Asiago and Parm mix)

Begin by sprinkling the seasoning over the chicken.  We used about 1 T.

Place the chicken into a skillet coated with olive oil.  Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, 7 minutes/side, until chicken is close to 180 degrees.  Alternatively, grill the chicken breasts.

When the chicken is almost done, add the mushrooms to the skillet and saute for 2-3 minutes.

Then, add in the spinach.

Cook these veggies until the liquids from the mushrooms evaporates and the chicken reaches 180 degrees.

Remove the dish from the heat, sprinkle the chicken breasts with cheese.  Cover and allow the cheese to melt.

Serve warm with brown rice and steamed veggies.

Enjoy!

Linked to: Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday (1), Tasty Tuesday (2), Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday, Recipe Round Up, Family Friendly Friday, Fun with Food Friday, Friday Flair.