Pesto Chicken with Rice and Spinach

A few chicken recipes went down my social media feed recently. Both looked interesting. One was a chicken and pasta dish done in the slow cooker. The other was a casserole with chicken, pesto and rice.  It was hard to decide which to try first, but in the end I loved the use of pesto and the higher amount of vegetables this second recipe included.  I'll be trying the other at a later date.

I found this recipe on SS Coaching's Facebook page, but later found she had it posted on another site as well. The two recipes were almost the same. The biggest difference was one had way more spinach, so I went with that version.  It's wasn't hard to chop and dice everything and dump it in a large bowl to mix.  I found the water added really needed to be very hot, preferably boiling, as it melted the stock cube better and partially wilted the spinach which made it easier to mix. 

My husband took one bite and said how good the flavor was, something he rarely does. I loved it too, so will definitely be making this again.  The casserole had a bit of extra liquid in the bottom and the rice was a little undercooked. I suspect that was the issue. Maybe a little longer cooking time in the future. All in all a big success. 

This recipe is low in fat and high in vegetables.  The amount of rice included is much smaller than traditional recipes which helps keep the calorie count lower.  I think I might also increase the amount of chicken next time, as it seemed sparse.  If I do, I'll let you know how it turns. Enjoy!

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Pesto Chicken with Rice and Spinach

Ingredients - 

1.1 lb.              Chicken Breast, cubed (could use a little more)

3/4 C               Uncooked rice

1.5 - 2 C          Mushrooms, sliced or diced

1 C                  Asparagus, trimmed and diced (if thick stems, slice lengthwise first)

1                      Ded, yellow or orange pepper, diced

1                      Red onion, chopped

1/3 C               Pesto

1-1/2 C            Fat free or low fat cottage cheese

150 G              Chopped spinach (about 4 C packed)

1                      Lg. chicken stock cube 

1 C                  Very hot water

1-2 tsp             Dry Italian herbs, or a mix of chopped fresh herbs minced

Salt and pepper

3/4 C               Reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated

Instructions - 

Preheat over to 365 degrees and prepare a 9 x 13 casserole dish (Pam or butter)

Mix stock cube with very hot water and stir until dissolved. Combine all ingredients from chicken breast through salt and pepper - DO NOT ADD the cheese - in a large bowl.  Mix gently until well combined, especially the rice and pesto. Pour the mixture into your prepared oven proof casserole and smooth out evenly. Cover tightly with foil. 

Put the casserole in the oven and bake for 40 min.  Take the foil off, sprinkle on the grated cheese, and bake for another 15 min. uncovered. Make sure rice is tender and chicken cooked through. If not give it a little more time.  Rest on the counter 5 min. before serving.