Chicken "Pasta" Parmesan: South Beach Style

Shortly after Meliska had little Liam, Greggy-D's sister, Lisa sent out a Care Calendar for friends and family to help out by picking a date and supplying dinner for a few weeks while they transitioned into the whole parenthood thing.

I picked Saturday, October 30th for purely selfish reasons - a chance to hang out with my buddies and love on little baby Liam.  I basically made a meal and invited myself over for dinner.  How rude am I?!  =P  When I initially plotted this brilliant strategery (love that word, Al Gore), I instantly thought to make chicken tetrazini for my friends.  It's one of my specialties, after all.  One problem with my plan.  I went back to the basics - took that step backward into Phase 1 of South Beach which meant no pasta for me.  So, what did I do???  I made a chicken tetrazini for Meliska and Greggy-D and then I made another meal for me, of course!

I've made it before, albeit a pasta version.  It was called Chicken Pasta Parmesan and it's a soup based sauce served over pasta.  I decided to modify this to make it Phase 1 friendly.  Now I'm sharing it with you.

Ingredients:

1 lb raw chicken - cubed
2 TBSP olive oil
salt, pepper, basil

one carton of mushrooms - sliced
minced garlic

2/3 cup marsala wine

2 cans 98% fat free cream of mushroom soup (you can use cream of chicken or a combo)

1/3 cup Greek yogurt

1 2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

salt, pepper, basil

spaghetti squash

Directions:

Cook your spaghetti squash for about 45 minutes to an hour at 350 degrees.  Once cooled, remove the "guts and seeds" and then using a fork, pull out the "spaghetti strands".  Place in the bottom of a casserole dish(es) that has/have been sprayed with Pam.

In a large skillet, heat 2 TBSP of olive oil and saute and season the cubed chicken.

Once browned, remove the chicken and add in the sliced mushrooms and saute and season them.

Add in the marsala wine and add back in the chicken.  Heat through before adding in the 2 cans of soup and the Greek yogurt.  Add some additional seasoning - tasting to make sure you have it just right.  Once the mixture is heated through, add in the parmesan cheese until melted.

Pour the mixture on top of the spaghetti squash.

Bake in the oven on 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until bubbly.

Enjoy!  I did just that, but not even half as much as I did my time with my friends and one cutie patootie Liam!