Three Cheese Chicken Alfredo Bake

This is why I love cooking...
I adapted this recipe from Plain Chicken.com and Plain Chicken adapted it from Southern Living! I love that recipes are living things that grow and change over time. I also love recipes that are versatile because I often change my mind regarding dinner at the last minute and I'm a fan of recipes that just require throwing ingredients together and calling it a day, especially when I can change up those ingredients according to what I have on hand.

This recipe has been halved. If you double it, you can bake it in a 9x13. I cut it in half because there are only 2.5 of us and even still, I'll be bringing lunch for my co-workers tomorrow!

Three Cheese Chicken Alfredo Bake
adapted from Plain Chicken

Ingredients
1/2 box (8-ounce) penne macaroni (or whatever shape you have on hand)
1 (15-ounce) containers refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1 cup sour cream
1 cup container cottage cheese (you could use ricotta too, I just prefer cottage cheese)

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (fresh adds a lot more flavor than dried)

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1.5 cups cooked chicken, chopped (I used a rotisserie chicken)
5 oz (1/2 of a 10 oz package) frozen, chopped spinach (defrosted and drained - you literally have to wring it out)
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pot.

2. Add to noodles: Alfredo sauce, sour cream, cottage cheese, egg, Parmesan and chopped parsley. Stir to combine.

3. Add oil and minced garlic to a skillet and heat on medium until garlic just begins to cook.  Add mushrooms and continue cooking a few more minutes until mushrooms begin to soften.  Add chicken and spinach and heat through (another couple minutes).

4. Add chicken mixture to pasta mixture and stir to combine. I added a little pepper too because the hubs loves peppery Alfredo sauce.

5. Transfer mixture to a lightly greased casserole dish, top with mozzarella, and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes (depending on the depth of your casserole dish) until browning and bubbly.

6. Serve with soft, buttery breadsticks or garlic bread (and maybe a salad if you're the healthy type).

*Other veggies that would be be good? Broccoli, bell peppers, onions, asparagus, or chopped tomatoes (probably not all at the same time though!)

*This would also be delicious with the addition of cooked, chopped bacon... but then again... what wouldn't?

Hummus

I've had a hummus recipe for a couple years now that I accumulated from somewhere or someone.  I don't know why I've never made it, but yesterday, my mom (who is currently vacationing near Key West) was sending me texts  (including pictures) of this veggie and hummus plate they had made after visiting a local farmers market. This kind of got me thinking about hummus and veggie trays, so I decided to give it a go. It's really as simple as dumping all the ingredients into a food processor and giving it a-whirl.  I thought this turned out so delicious, that I will probably never buy it from the store again!

Hummus

Ingredients:
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained (I used salt-free)
1/2 c tahini
1/3 c warm water
1/3 c olive oil* (see below)
Juice of 2-3 lemons (I used 6 Tbsp of bottled lemon juice)
4 (or more) garlic cloves (I used 4 large ones)
1.5 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend.

*I only have a 6 cup food processor (because I'm STILL waiting for Santa to bring me a 12-cup) so I had to process in batches.  Therefore, I combined all the ingredients except the oil in a mixing bowl, then poured half into the processor. I then added oil while it was blending until it was the consistency I liked. I scooped it out, then added the other half and did the same thing again.  What I'm saying is, use the oil to adjust the hummus to your desired smoothness.

*Also, I added a roasted red pepper (the jarred kind) to half of the batch because that's my favorite flavor of hummus. So I ended up with half plain and half red pepper flavored.

Today for lunch I brought an "adult lunchable" which consisted of some thin sliced salami, a few cubes of good sharp cheddar, some grapes, a glob of hummus, some cucumbers and cut up naan bread.  It's only 8:30 and I'm already looking forward to it!

Best of luck!