Quick & Yummy Dinner

I'm finally getting around to posting a non-TWD post as well as a savory post! I almost forgot to take a picture of our dinner tonight, but luckily my dear hubby was sweet enough to run out to the car and grab my camera at the last minute! YAY!

Tonight's dinner was Sauteed Salmon with Spinach Fettucine. I make the salmon my standard way by coating it in olive oil then sprinkling a pretty good amount of sea salt (I use William Sonoma's fleur de sel) and pepper on both sides of the fish. Then I saute in a bit more olive oil until it is done to your liking.

The spinach fettucine recipe comes from Cooking Light, but I actually lighten the recipe even more than they have. One thing I did differently tonight that I think worked really well was using fresh baby spinach (rather than frozen spinach) and wilting it by draining the pasta over the spinach in a colander. I definitely like the flavor and texture of fresh spinach much more than frozen spinach.

I'll note the other changes I made in italics in the recipe. Definitely a yummy supper and is actually really quick to make. Tonight we were eating in less than an hour after I got home. That's super-fast for us! Anyway here's the recipe, I hope you give it a try!

Spinach Fettucine

Adapted from Cooking Light

1 lb. uncooked fettucine (I use whole wheat angel hair, hubby doesn't like fettucine)

1 tablespoon butter

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup reduced fat cream cheese

3/4 cup fat-free less-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

3/4 cup half-and-half (I use skim milk, I'm sure H&H is creamier, but just not necessary to me)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 10 oz. pkg frozen spinach, thawed (I used fresh spinach wilted by draining the pasta on top in a colander)

10 center-cut bacon slices, cooked and crumbled (I leave this out because I normally serve it with salmon, which is so much healthier than bacon, this actually seems a little weird to me in this recipe)

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting the salt and fat. Drain pasta (I drain on top of the fresh baby spinach), reserving 1/2 cup pasta water (I replaced this with more chicken broth for flavor).

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, saute 30 seconds. Add reserved pasta water (Again, I used chicken broth) and cream cheese, stirring with a whisk until smooth.

Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture to pan, stirring with a whisk to combine, bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add parmesan cheese, stirring until smooth. Add half-and-half (I used skim milk), salt and pepper. Stir in spinach (Unless you wilted the spinach with the pasta). Combine cheese mixture and pasta in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Sprinkle each serving with bacon (If using).

Quick final thought: One issue I had the first time I made this was on timing everything to get done at the same time. I found with this attempt that if I start making the cream sauce and sauteing the salmon right after I put the pasta in the boiling water the timing works out pretty well.