Food Q&A: Chicken and Spinach

Need ideas for coping with restaurant buffets? Want some good snack ideas? In our Q&A series, WeightWatchers.com nutritionist and food editor Leslie Fink, MS, RD, answers questions about food, nutrition and weight loss.

Q: I defrosted some chicken breasts and frozen chopped spinach. Now what?

A: One idea would be to make grilled chicken-spinach wraps. Or my own specialty of baked chicken and spinach burritos filled out with black beans, onions, low-fat shredded cheese and salsa. But many more options exist. Bev Bennett, cookbook author and weight loss columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, offers three terrific meal ideas:

Simmer some soup. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Sauté in a medium saucepan coated with cooking spray until the chicken is lightly browned. Add the spinach and enough chicken broth to cover the chicken and spinach. Flavor with a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and simmer until hot. (You can toss a cup of sautéed onions into the pot or add a bag of frozen chopped onions and peppers. If you have leftover diced potatoes or a little cooked macaroni, add that as well.)

Fill a crescent roll. Sauté a small, chopped onion in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Cut the chicken into strips, then add them to the skillet and brown on both sides. Thaw the spinach in the microwave and squeeze dry; add to the skillet and warm through. Season the mixture with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Unroll a package of reduced-fat crescent rolls, flatten each one with a rolling pin and top each with a heaping tablespoon of the chicken-spinach filling. Fold each roll into a triangle, press the edges together to make a seal and bake according to the package directions.

Create a casserole. Sauté a small, chopped onion in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Cut the chicken into strips, add them to the skillet and brown on both sides; add the frozen spinach and heat through. Prepare a packet of reduced-fat Alfredo sauce or cheese sauce according to the package directions (substitute fat-free milk for regular) and pour the sauce over the chicken. Spoon the chicken mixture into a casserole dish along with two cups of cooked macaroni or rice. Bake at moderate heat just to warm through.