Table Talk: Creamy Chicken and Spinach Casserole

I am a messy cook.  I try not to be, but I just am.  Hopefully it's something I will be able to remedy over time, but for now, when I am done cooking, the kitchen looks like a bomb went off in there.  How hard is it to put things away while you go?!  My pea-sized brain just can't handle it.  What I like about recipes like this?   While the casserole is in the oven I have 20-30 minutes to clean up before anyone can see the evidence. :)  

The recipe starts with a creamy sauce made from parmesan, milk, onions and spices.  Add some chicken, spinach and whole wheat penne and then top it off with mozzarella cheese.  And then somehow call it healthy.  My kids loved this (they did pick out the spinach) and Tyler and I loved it too.  We divided it into 6 servings rather than 4.  The 540 calories per serving was a bit much for us; 350 was more doable.  

I also threw in some sun dried tomatoes because I had some,  and because I love them and I thought it sounded good.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.  The only other thing I changed about the recipe was that I seared my chicken and then cut it (remember my aversion to cutting raw meat).  And I would also do that again.

And you wanna know what else I'd do again?  Make this.  Our smaller servings were perfect with a salad (balsamic vinaigrette goes pretty well with this) and it was a crowd pleaser.  There wasn't so much cheese that it was unpalatable, but it was cheesy enough that it didn't feel 'healthy'.

*One side note, the sauce doesn't really specify how much salt/pepper to add, it just says 'to taste'.  I added 1/2-3/4 tsp salt and I could have even added a bit more.

If you'd like the recipe, you can get it at Jen O's blog.  She was our hostess for the week and chose this fabulous recipe.

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