Orange Balsamic Chicken Baked Ziti
Saturday, March 15, 2014From our skinny table to yours...
So this delicious dinner came from the hubs requesting ziti and our own craving for both citrus and ricotta! Well put the two and two together, add a little balsamic and you have yourself a meal! We are big fans of this healthy and, of course, veggie packed dish and we know you will be too!
We started by making a super quick sauce of garlic, onion and equal parts part skim ricotta cheese and orange juice. We then added in lots of veggies consisting of grape tomatoes, asparagus and spinach! Both rosemary and thyme were then added to tie this whole dish together.
This was super easy to throw together. We simply tossed our organic wheat pasta noodles into a dish and covered it with our citrus ricotta sauce. We have meat loving husbands so we added in balsamic grilled organic chicken, but feel free to omit to create a vegetarian dish :)
Top this dish with balsamic glaze, organic reduced fat mozzarella cheese and bake until golden brown! Hope you enjoy as much as we all did :)
Nutrition Facts Per Serving
Serves: 8
Calories: 372
Fat: 9.2 grams
Carbs: 50.3 grams
Dietary fiber: 6.4 grams
Protein: 22.3 grams
Ingredients
1/2 pound organic chicken breast chopped
16 oz organic wheat pasta noodles
3 cloves garlic minced
1 small onion chopped
2 cups grape tomatoes halved
1 cup asparagus chopped
4 cups fresh spinach
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 cup orange juice
1/3 cup organic reduced fat mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp. thyme
1 tbsp. rosemary
2 tbsp. olive oil or coconut oil
3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. balsamic glaze
Salt and pepper to taste
Let's get cooking!
1. Add 1 tbsp. oil to saute pan over medium heat. Add chopped chicken and saute 1 minute each side. Add balsamic vinegar and saute for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until chicken is cooked throughout. Set chicken aside for later.
2. Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. Add remaining tbsp. olive oil to same saute pan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. Add both ricotta cheese and orange juice. Stir to combine flavors. Add spinach, tomatoes and asparagus.
5. Season sauce with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer for 3-5 minutes.
6. Spray baking dish with non-stick spray. Add pasta, orange ricotta sauce, and balsamic chicken to dish. Stir to make sure all pasta is covered in sauce.
7. Top dish with mozzarella cheese and squeeze over balsamic glaze.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese turns golden brown.
Hope you enjoy!
1 comments
This looks delicious - I love so many of the ingredients that are included in this. And, any time you can mix stuff up and through it in the oven I love it!!!
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