Chicken Florentine

Why is it that anything with the name Florentine in it sounds delicious? I guess one would have to love spinach for that to be a true statement, but I do love spinach, and I do love florentine dishes. This recipe, Chicken Florentine, from In a Flash, had all kinds of promise, and in the end it wasn't too bad, but it was the stupidest recipe I've tried yet.

First of all, and this was my fault, it calls for 10 oz. of spinach. It doesn't specifically say fresh, but it's implied. Of course, I had frozen spinach, and didn't realize it until it was almost time to add the spinach. So I had to defrost it quickly, and then squeeze all the liquid out of it. Then, at the last minute, I realized I didn't have enough spinach, so I had to repeat the process. Well, you cook the chicken, and move it to a plate. Then you saute the onions with a little chicken broth. But there just isn't enough liquid so you have to add water Then you add the spinach. But it's dry now, after all that squeezing. So, what do you have to do? Add more water , and then more water, and then even more water. Did I mention the spinach is squeezed? Well, that results in clumps of spinach. So while you're busily trying to keep enough water in the pan to keep the spinach and onions from burning, you have to de-clump the spinach. Finally, it was time to add the chicken to the top of the spinach (you'll still need more water) and cheese on top of the chicken. The problem with the cheese was that it calls for lowfat shredded Jarlsberg or Swiss. I defy anyone to easily find lowfat Jarlseberg cheese. In fact, we couldn't even find lowfat shredded Swiss, so we used Swiss slices. You cover the pan until the cheese melts, and what do you know? You have Chicken Floretine...with lots of liquid because the cover makes the spinach lose some of its liquid (the same way mushrooms do).

As I said before, in the end it was a tasty dinner. But I sure griped and swore through the whole preparation. I served it with instant mashed potatoes. I'm tellin' you, if you haven't tried those, you should - they're a marvel of modern fast food!

By the way, the chicken florentine was only 5 points per serving - and I earned everyone of those points!

Somethin' Smells Fishy...

...and it's Salmon Teriyaki with Gingered Spinach from In a Flash. If you like that Asian/teriyaki/ginger flavor, and of course, salmon, this is the dish for you. The salmon is cooked only in a Pam spray - it's the spinach that is flavored with the teriyaki and ginger, and it was, as my Filipino friend says, quite nice. The the salmon is placed on the spinach and brushed with a teriyaki glaze - a very nice presentation and a good flavor combination. All in all, a successful dinner, and only 6 points per serving. I used more spinach than the recipe called for with no worries, because spinach has no points. I served it with mushroom risotto, which didn't go with the Asian theme at all, but I like risotto, so it doesn't matter that it didn't match. In fact, we should use that same philosophy with clothes. Love that plaid shirt? Love those polka dotted pants? No matter - wear them together. Who cares?

Now here's a pet peeve: The risotto box calls a serving 1/4 dry risotto. Now what good is that information? I'm not planning on eating a 1/4 cup dry rice - ever! Am I supposed to know how much that equates to in prepared risotto? Sure, the box says approximately 6 servings total. But I'm not going to divide the bowl of risotto into 6 individual servings, just to make sure I get only one of them. I wonder, if I complain to the company, will they send me a free box of risotto, risotto for life, maybe? That would make it all better, because I love risotto!

And, on that note...