Today I discovered the ONLY way I will ever eat cottage cheese: when it's cooked into a dish.
Now before I get into this, you need to know an important fact about me. Although I LOVE love Love LOVE cheese, I absolutely hate and refuse to eat cream cheese and cottage cheese. People think I'm crazy because they love cream cheese, but I just don't like it. And it's not good for you, so I'm really not upset about it.
Anyway, I follow Skinny Ms. on Facebook, and they recently posted a recipe for Chicken Florentine Casserole. It intrigued me because I love chicken, spinach, cheese, and pasta, so this was a no-brainer! I was a little apprehensive because the recipe called for cottage cheese... gross. But I went for it anyway, knowing that 1) It would have to be blended so it was smooth, and 2) it would be cooked.
I went ahead and gathered the ingredients. I went with rotisserie chicken because I figured it would be easier than getting chicken cutlets. The problem is that it took me forever to pull the chicken, and I hardly got 12 ounces out of it! Next time I'll either use 2 rotisserie chickens or just buy the cutlets. The rest was pretty simple, there are just lots of little ingredients so I was kinda stressed trying to hurry up and get it all together. I actually had to start the recipe over because I screwed up the second step of sauteing the garlic. It doesn't take long to burn, people! I put the cottage cheese in the blender, but it wasn't as gross as I'd imagined. I just can't stand the lumpy appearance of cottage cheese. Ew.
So, I got all my ingredients, followed the directions, and it turned out to be a simple recipe. Then just popped it in the oven for 30 minutes, and voila! Delicious spinachy cheesy chicken pasta that anyone would love. And it's low fat! I had a serving for lunch, and I'm going to serve it to hubby for dinner when he gets home. Hopefully he approves! I sure did. Here are some pics and the recipe:
Nutrition Data
Yield: 6 servings
Serving Size: approx 1-1/2 cups
Calories: 315
Fat: 8.1 g
Carbs: 33.4 g
Fiber: 2.2 g
Sodium: 396 mg
Sugars: 0 g
Protein: 26 g
Ingredients
- 4 x 3 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pre-cooked, cut into cubes (rotisserie chicken works too)
- 1/2 box frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed to remove access liquid
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 Tbsp flour (I used whole wheat flour because that's what I had on hand)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 cups no-salt added chicken broth
- pinch nutmeg
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup low fat cottage cheese, blended to make smooth consistency
- 2/3 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated (use small holes on grater)
- 1/2 pound whole grain pasta (I didn't use whole grain, but I did use spirals)
Directions
Preheat
oven to 375 degrees F. Mist a 9 x 11 baking dish with oil. Cook pasta
according to package directions. In a large pot, heat olive oil to
medium-low and saute garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour
and whisk for 30 seconds. Add chicken broth and stir until thickened.
Add lemon juice, nutmeg, oregano & pepper. Bring to simmer. Remove
from heat and add blended cottage cheese, spinach, chicken, Parmesan
cheese & pasta. Stir to combine. Place in casserole dish. Bake for
30 minutes or until golden & bubbly.
Also, one more thing before you go! Remember the egg and bacon Paleo "muffins?" Hubby loved them! He actually grabbed a couple out of the fridge while I was out running errands, and I got a text that said "Holy shit these egg bacon wrap things are good!" He's confused because they're muffins, not wraps, but I'll take it. That's what he eats for breakfast now. I'll call it a win!
