SKILLET CHICKEN FLORENTINE

DANA'S SKILLET CHICKEN FLORENTINE
2 tablespoons butter, divided
3 boneless chicken breasts or 6 chicken tenders (about 1 pound)
10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed *
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese **
Salt and pepper, to taste

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side, but do not cook all the way through. Remove the chicken to a plate. Add the other tablespoon of butter to the skillet and heat over medium-low heat. Add the spinach and garlic; cook about 1 minute, just to heat. Stir in the cream and cheese. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper, as needed, then spread the spinach evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Top the spinach with the chicken in a single layer; cover the pan and simmer over low heat about 5 minutes or so or just until the chicken is done to your liking. Serve the chicken topped with the spinach mixture.

Makes 3 servings
Do not freeze

* I think that a 9 ounce bag of fresh baby spinach would work just as well but I would probably coarsely chop it first. The 1 minute cooking time may need to be increased slightly. Just cook it until it starts to wilt before seasoning it and topping it with the chicken before the final simmer.

** I suggest using the good stuff, but the kind in the green can should work too.

Per Serving: 334 Calories; 20g Fat; 33g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

This is an oldy, but goody from Dana Carpender's "500 Low-Carb Recipes" page 248. It's one of those all-time favorite recipes that low carbers have been making for years but I just now got around to trying it myself. I made a few little tweaks to Dana's recipe.

First, I browned my chicken in butter instead of olive oil to give it a nice flavor (I don't care for the taste of olive oil). I also seasoned the chicken before browning it. There was no mention of seasonings in the book. I gave my spinach an extra chop with a big knife so that there wouldn't be any long stringy pieces. Because I used chicken tenders, I only simmered them for 5 minutes along with the spinach and they were done perfectly and still tender and juicy. I'd add a couple more minutes for whole breasts but watch them closely. You may want to give the spinach an extra sprinkling of parmesan cheese just before serving. I was expecting there to be sort of a sauce but it's really just garlicky spinach that's nice and moist from the cream and cheese. I reduced the cooking time for the spinach, before adding the chicken back in, to just 1 minute rather than 2-3 minutes as the recipe directed. I didn't want overcooked spinach and it came out perfect. My husband gave this a thumbs up. Click the photo to see a close-up.

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