Garlic Lemon Spaghetti Squash with Chicken

I love me some buttered lemon chicken with pasta - but I’m nearing 40 and have all this time to experiment. So, I changed the ingredients to be slightly healthier. A version to add protein for vegetarians is at the bottoms;) this is another where you can do a lot of the prep in steps and come back to it. Or do it all at once and cook at the end of the day. 

Ingredients:

- 3 chicken breasts

- 1 lemon

- 1/3 cup avocado oil (or other cooking oil)

- 1 tsp paprika

- 1 tsp onion powder

-  6 garlic cloves

- 1/2tsp red pepper flakes

- salt

- pepper

- 1/3 cup broth (I used chicken broth)

- 1 spaghetti squash

- 1&1/2 cup chopped tomatoes 

- kale, ripped into pieces, maybe 1 cup total  

- regular spaghetti (for those who are not fans of spaghetti squash

- shredded Parmesan cheese

RECIPE: 

1. First we marinate the chicken. 

    - place the chicken into a gallon ziplock. Zest half the lemon over the chicken. Squeeze half the lemon over the chicken. Add the paprika, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, onion powder, broth, and oil. Take 4 garlic cloves and mince. Place in bag. Seal the bag and massage into the chicken. Set in fridge till ready to cook. 

2. Set oven to 450. Slice the spaghetti squash in half. Remove the seeds. Cut one garlic clove in half and rub all over the inside of the squash - both halves. Spread cooking oil with a basting brush on the inside of each half. Sprinkle with salt. Lay upside down on baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes. 

3. Pan cook or grill the chicken. If you pan cook, add a bit of oil to a medium sized pan. Heat over medium high and take chicken out of the bag reserving the marinade. Cook chicken for about 7 minutes on each side in the oil. If you grill - do whatever grillers do. 

***if you are making regular spaghetti now is the time to boil the water and cook it! Take care of business. 
4. Ten minutes before the squash is finished, pour the remaining marinade into a large sauté pan. Heat over medium heat. Add the diced tomatoes. Sauté for a few minutes. Add in the other two cloves, minced. Tear the kale and set aside. 

5. Bring the squash out of the oven. Shred the inside of the squash with a fork into the sauté pan with the tomatoes. Add in the kale. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and the rest of the juice from the lemon. Toss and cook on low trying to get rid of excess liquid. Think “al dente”. Add a sprinkle of the Parmesan cheese.

***if you made regular pasta put the warm pasta back in the pot with a few tabs of butter. Add in salt, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and a few bits of kale. 

6. Place a serving of the squash mixture in a bowl. Top with cubbed bite sized pieces of the chicken. Sprinkle a tad more cheese. And then eat!

***for my kiddos I took the chicken and set it on the side and put the pasta in another bowl for them. 

For a vegetarian option: omit the chicken but follow instructions for the marinade. Make spaghetti squash per directions. Consider pan frying tofu into the marinade in the sauté pan at the end. Then cut into bite sized pieces.