Whole30 Creamy Chicken and Spinach

What do you make when you have a package of chicken thighs, spinach, and various vegetables in the garden, oh and a bowl of spaghetti squash in the frig that was cooked the day before? Well, here we go . . .

I browsed a few recipes with these ingredients and kept coming back to ideas that included a “creamy” sauce, a dish that I have not been able to create to my liking in the past. After combining a few different recipes, this ended up being quite an experiment, and the good news is, it was deliciously successful! My visual was having all of these tasty ingredients in a creamy type sauce, served over the spaghetti squash. I’ve struggled with getting "the sauce” correct throughout my paleo years, I wanted a creamy dairy free sauce, maybe some lemony flavors, and every time I try it’s just never quite right. But this time, I nailed it! And to help me remember what I did for the next time I want to make this, I share with you!

The basic ingredients for the creamy sauce includes 1 cup each of coconut milk and broth, and one tablespoon of gluten free flour whisked into 1/4 cup water. I can see this recipe having so many variations! By using this combination as a base for the creamy sauce, then different seasonings could be added, and use different choices of proteins and vegetables... We got a lot of cooking to do!

INGREDIENTS -

4 boneless organic chicken thighs, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 anaheim chili, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped basil
2 Tbsp avocado oil
2 cups (handfuls) spinach
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup (8 oz) chicken or vegetable stock
salt & pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 Tbsp gluten free flour mixed in with 1/4 cup water
Sprinkling of grated parmesan, optional
Spaghetti squash - to serve the sauce over. This could also be served over rice or cauliflower rice, or it could be filling for a stuffed potato or sweet potato, or . . . the ideas could go on!

This ingredient list was based on “what I had”, other than the chicken and the spinach, which were the key items to have on hand. And another thing on my mind was that I had recently watched a cooking show where they stressed to salt frequently throughout your cooking process. So you blend in a couple of more vegetables to your mixture, add another little sprinkling of salt, and so on. I do think these flavors seemed to have a little extra pop to them, so maybe that did make a difference! My recipe experiments sometimes need extra salt at the end, and I may have found the answer to that!

Heat the avocado oil to medium. While you are cooking try adding a sprinkling of salt after each addition! Add the onion and garlic and stir for a few minutes to release the flavors. Add the anaheim chili, bell pepper, and chicken and continue to stir until the chicken is cooked. Blend in the spinach. Stir in the chicken stock and coconut milk, then bring to a light boil. Add in the flour dissolved in water. Continue stirring and blend in the basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for a few minutes for the flavors to blend.

You can add in some parmesan cheese if you choose, or sprinkle it over the top when you serve. Hopefully the consistency and flavors are to your liking! I love it when an experiment is successful! Enjoy!