Today’s recipe is a hearty ragu filled with roasted, shredded chicken breast. This is a wonderful dinner recipe for those busy weeknights, and it a fantastic method for serving yesterday’s cooked chicken in a brand new flavorful fashion.
A ragu is what the Italian’s call a meat-based sauce that’s simmered with vegetables and wine and served over pasta. I chose to serve my ragu over roasted spaghetti squash, nestled on a bed of fresh arugula. You could do the same, or opt to serve it over zucchini noodles, butternut squash noodles, sweet potato noodles, or simply over some sautéed veggies, cooked quinoa or fresh greens. The key is that you are avoiding those traditional, starchy, grain-based noodles.
Lately I’ve been making dinner recipes that contain two days worth of recipe potential, in order to cut down on shopping, planning and cooking time. Less kitchen time for me, with the same number of weekly meals required – desperate times call for innovation.
Day #1 I started by making Perfectly Moist Chicken Breast in the slow cooker (simply put start it in the morning and it’s ready by dinner time), enough for two servings per family member. Dinner on Day #1 was Chicken, Fruit & Spinach Salad, using the slow cooker chicken breast. You could also do Chopped Chicken Bacon & Avocado Salad, or Chopped Taco Salad.
Day #2 the remaining chicken breast is used to make this Chicken Ragu with Marsala. Give it a go and let me know what you think! Also stay tuned for a Day #1 + Day #2 using Braised Teriyaki Short Ribs and a Short Rib Hash…yums!
2 spaghetti squash
dash of sea salt
dash of black pepper
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
⅓ cup yellow onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons Garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
sea salt
black pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
⅓ cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups organic tomato sauce
⅔ cup coconut cream
2 cups roasted chicken, shredded
2 cups Baby Arugula
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Cut the spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
Rub the inside of each spaghetti squash half with coconut oil and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper. Place, cut side down, on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes, or until tender.
In a large skillet place the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and brown. Add the onions, garlic and thyme. Sauté for 4 minutes. Season with sea salt and black pepper. Mix in the tomato paste and sauté for another 4 minutes.
Deglaze the skillet with the Marsala. Add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and coconut cream. Mix to combine and bring to a simmer. Add in the shredded chicken and continue to simmer for 5 minutes as the sauce thickens. Serve over a bed of arugula and roasted spaghetti squash. Enjoy!
Calories: 248
Fat: 9g
Carbohydrates: 21g
Sodium: 956mg
Fiber: 6g
Protein: 25g
Sugar: 11g