Italian Herb Sautéed Chicken

      I work all day as a special education teacher and when I come home in the evenings I’m tired.  I don’t want to spend a lot of time cooking so I look for quick dinner recipes during the week.  Chicken is my favorite meat so I’m always finding and creating easy chicken recipes to make after work.  One of my secrets to making a quick dinner is to get help by using a recipe starter.

I recently came across LandO’Lakes Sauté Express^® Sautéed Starters at my local Wal-Mart store.   I bought the Italian Herb and the Lemon Pepper.  I used the Lemon Pepper last week to make quick fish tacos and they were quite tasty and easy to make.  I was saving the Italian Herb Sauté Starter for a night that I needed a quick dinner recipe.

      Last night was the night I needed help in the kitchen!   I had an extremely busy day without any planning time and my husband had worked outside all day so he was tired as well.  I look in the refrigerator and saw the LandO’Lakes Sauté Express^® Sautéed Starter and a package of chicken defrosting.  I had already planned on cooking the chicken with the Italian Herb Sautéed Starter and serving it over fettuccine noodles.

Then I looked out the window and saw quite a few cherry tomatoes begging to be picked.  I ran right out, grabbed a large handful and came back in.  I sautéed the chicken in the Italian Herb, added a handful of slice cherry tomatoes and a bunch of fresh spinach.  The meal took me about 20 minutes to prepared and tasted amazing!  The chicken had a beautiful deep brown color and the red and green from the vegetables really made it something something.

     I placed the chicken and vegetables on top of hot fettuccine noodles for a complete dinner entree.  My husband liked how light the sauce was on top of the noodles and the butter and herb flavor of the chicken.  I enjoyed how quick this recipe cooked up and the explosion of flavor in my mouth.

 Italian Herb Sautéed Chicken over Fettuccine  (a Hezzi-D original)

2  Land O’Lakes Sauté Express^® Italian Herb cubes

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

12 oz. fettuccine noodles

2 shallots, thinly sliced

1 c. cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 c. fresh spinach

1/2 t. black pepper

1 T. balsamic vingegar

Fresh basil leaves

1.  Heat water in a large saucepan to boiling and then cook the fettuccine according to the package directions.  Drain and keep hot.

2.  Place the Land O’Lakes Sauté Express^® Italian Herb cubes in a large skillet and heat over medium heat.  Once the cubes have melted add in the chicken breasts.  Sauté for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally, until the chicken is cooked to 165 degrees.

3.  Add the shallots to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes or until they are covered in the sauce and become fragrant.  Stir in the cherry tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes or until they begin to soften.

4.  Add in the spinach and heat until the spinach just begins to wilt.  Sprinkle with black pepper and remove from heat.

5.  To serve place a 3 ounce portion of fettuccine on a dinner plate.  Top with a chicken breast and some of the Italian Herb sauce along with tomatoes and spinach.  Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and top with a few fresh basil leaves.  Serve hot.