Let me tell you… sometimes I wake up on Sunday ready to take on the world. I’ll clean the house, grocery shop, meal prep, do laundry. Other times I wake up and have a bad case of the Sunday Scaries. This dish is perfect for the Sunday Scaries.

While I’ve been invigorated to be back in the kitchen after two weeks of vacation, I am decidedly feeling lazy about making anything fancy. So I whipped this recipe up for dinner just the other night and Nick reminded me that it’s one of his favorites. Shocker! Mostly because I rarely make pasta (unpopular opinion but pasta doesn’t do it for me). But I can’t blame him. It may not be the fresh pasta we ate every night in Italy but it still hits.

The pasta satisfies the comfort food desire while adding spinach and chicken packs in nutrients, protein, greens, and will make you fuller faster… although it tastes so good I have to force myself to stop eating it.

And if you use Jovial GF pasta like I do, then you can rest easy knowing this meal is packed with protein as well. Another good hack? Try the Vegan Kale, Cashew, and Basil Pesto from Trader Joe’s. It’s not your typical pine nut-based pesto but tastes surprisingly fresh and flavorful. Sorry to all my family and friends who struggle with nut allergies… at least it tells you outright in the very long product name!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. chicken breast

1 Box GF pasta

4 cups spinach

¼ cup chopped sundried tomatoes

¼ cup pesto

½ cup parmesan

2 tbsp. avocado oil

red chili pepper flakes

salt & pepper

Serving Size: 4

INSTRUCTIONS

• Follow the pasta instructions on the box and cook, then set aside.
• Clean and cut chicken into cubes.
• Heat skillet with half the avocado oil and cook chicken approx.. 8 minutes until cooked through and golden on the outside. Set aside. 
• In another skillet (or the same one as the chicken!) stir spinach on low heat until slightly wilted. It’ll happen quickly so keep tossing and turn off the heat when spinach is 75% dark green so you still keep some crunch.
• In a large bowl, toss the pasta, chicken, spinach, sundried tomatoes, and pesto together.
• Top with red chili pepper flakes, parmesan, and a bit more salt and pepper. Enjoy!