Wow, I am positively terrible at posting regularly. I don't even have a good excuse other than...
I AM POSITIVELY TERRIBLE AT POSTING REGULARLY.
Anyway...
I really wanted to share tonight's dinner with you all, because it was the perfect example of it's soooo late, I'm hungry, I didn't plan anything for dinner, I don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I don't want take-out, and I don't want to compromise my clean eating.
The husband was working really, really late at the office and was starving. Monday nights are late nights for me, so I usually end up having coffee and a granola bar, but the husband needed REAL FOOD to power through his long night of worky work.
I knew I had thawed chicken (yay! I HATE defrosting chicken) and leftover pasta from the night before.
While the chicken was cooking in EVOO (seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, and dried parsley) I rooted around the fridge to see what else I could add to the pasta and found onion, spinach, canned artichokes and tomato.
I chopped the onion, and sauteed them in EVOO for a few minutes before adding the sliced artichokes. After a few more minutes I added the spinach and chopped tomato and cooked until the spinach wilted and the tomatoes were warm.
I added everything to the pasta, using the leftover EVOO in the pan as a sauce, seasoned with salt, pepper, dried parsley, and cayenne pepper, and added a finishing touch of grated Parmesan Romano cheese.
It. Was. So. Good. Oh. Em. Gee!
Seriously...sooooo delicious and insanely quick and easy (especially since the pasta was already cooked). It will most definitely be added to our regular rotation.
Some very important notes...
The pasta: We use brown rice spinach pasta. We DO NOT do gluten free anything. In my opinion, Gluten Free is code for A Bunch of Other Crap. If you have Celiac or a gluten sensitivity and are strictly concerned with avoiding gluten; foods labeled Gluten Free can be a great option. However, if you are interested in eating clean, make sure you READ THOSE LABELS! There is a lot of "stuff" in gluten free foods that clean eaters will want to stay away from.
The cheese: Check the label on the Parmesan Romano cheese you use. I don't eat a lot of dairy, but when I do, I don't want A Bunch of Other Crap...like potassium sorbate, which is in the Publix brand I used to get. But, I just found a brand (4C) that does not have any preservatives!
*happy dance. pee my pants*
The artichokes: Generally, anything that comes in a box, can or bottle contains A Bunch of Other Crap, so once again check, CHECK THOSE LABELS! Make sure you're got getting any unwanted ingredients.
The olive oil: Olive oil is good for you. It's a healthy fat. However, heating olive oil destroys its good properties, and if I remember correctly, turns it to an Omega 6 fat (which isn't necessarily bad, but we tend to get waaaaay too much of it in our diet.)
So...if any part of this meal is unhealthy, I would say it's the heated olive oil. It would have been better to toss the pasta in oil straight from the bottle, but I was in a hurry so I dumped everything from the pan into the bowl.
Not every meal will be perfectly "clean," so you do the best you can. Overall, I was pleased with what I was able to pull together, considering time, ingredients, and desire not to spend all night in the kitchen.
Remember, clean eating does not have to be time consuming to be delicious. Sometimes, you just have to get creative!
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