As much as I want to tell you about the life-changing pair of maternity leggings I recently bought (umm, will totally still be wearing these post-baby!) I’ll spare you and share this light and healthy Bruschetta Chicken Pasta recipe instead!
A homemade bruschetta mixture – chopped tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, fresh basil, and tons of minced garlic – is quickly simmered to create a light and silky sauce for cooked spaghetti noodles. Topped with a little parmesan cheese, balsamic reduction, and sauteed chicken cutlets, this is a 20-minute dish the whole family will eat without complaint.
This recipe is actually from the IGE archives. We’re talking 2011, dark photos, no recipe – just an obnoxious collection of photos and words. Hey, I guess not much has changed! Har. Anyway, the dish deserves a repost not only because it is so, so simple but because it’s just what I crave around this time of year. The sun is staying out longer and longer each day and I find myself pushing aside heavier comfort food recipes for simple, toss together suppers that are easy on the waistline, and sourced mostly from the garden or Farmer’s Market. Winning!
How to Make This Recipe:
Start by making the bruschetta mixture – it is incredible. In a bowl combine 6 chopped Roma tomatoes, 1/4 cup packed fresh basil that’s been chopped, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 3 cloves minced garlic, tons of salt and pepper, plus a pinch of sugar. Set aside or refrigerate overnight.
Next add 10oz spaghetti to a large pot of salted, boiling water, then cook until al dente. Drain then set aside. Around the time you drop the pasta into the water, place a large skillet over medium-high heat then mist or spray with extra virgin olive oil or nonstick spray. Add 2 chicken breasts that have sliced into cutlets (ie sliced in half lengthwise) then seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and saute for 2-3 minutes a side or until cooked through. Remove to a plate then set aside.
Turn the heat down to medium then remove the skillet from the heat to cool for a couple of minutes, and then add the bruschetta mixture. Saute for 2-3 minutes or until the tomatoes are heated through and the sauce is slightly thickened.
Finally, add the cooked pasta into the skillet plus 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese then toss to combine. Taste then add salt if necessary.
Scoop the pasta into bowls then drizzle with a wee bit of balsamic reduction if you please (you can find this in bottles at the grocery store or make your own) and top with a sliced chicken cutlet. EASY, you guys!!! So, so easy, and even more delicious. I hope you love this light and yummy dish. Enjoy!
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Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
Description
Bruschetta Chicken Pasta is a light and fresh dinner recipe that's quick cooking too. Prep ahead and dinner will be on the table in just 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- 10oz gluten-free spaghetti
- 2 chicken breasts, sliced into cutlets
- Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and pepper
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
- balsamic reduction, optional
- For the bruschetta mixture:
- 6 Roma tomatoes, chopped with juices (about 3 cups)
- 1/4 cup packed fresh basil, chopped
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic, microplaned or minced
- salt and pepper
- pinch of sugar
Directions
- Stir together ingredients for bruschetta in a bowl then set aside. Can be made a day ahead of time.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil then salt heavily and add spaghetti. Cook until al dente then drain and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat then mist or spray with extra virgin olive oil or nonstick spray. Season chicken on both sides with Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and pepper then saute for 2-3 minutes a side or until cooked through. Remove to a plate then set aside. Turn heat down to medium then remove skillet from heat to cool slightly.
- Return skillet to heat then add bruschetta mixture and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until tomatoes are heated through and juices are slightly thickened. Add pasta and parmesan cheese then toss to combine. Taste then add salt if necessary. Scoop into bowls then top with more parmesan cheese, balsamic reduction if using, and chicken, then serve.
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
I’m a mom of 3 kids as well and would enjoy reading your lifestyle posts.
Not that I don’t love food but your lifestyle posts are my favorite. I’ve been a reader since I think 2009/10 and the posts about your everyday life make me feel like I’m catching up with an old friend, and I look forward to them. :)
I agree! It was really how we got to “know” her.
Love the idea of more lifestyle posts!
1. YES to lifestyle posts ( kids, fashion, home, thoughts, entertaining, etc….)! I love that idea! 2. Congratulations on your baby GIRL. You’re going to love having a girl in the house. 3. Your grandma! wow to 99 and still telling stories of childhood. 4. This reminds me of another recipe of yours that I make all the time and don’t know what you called it bc I have the recipe memorized ( pounded thin chicken breast, sautéed, topped with bruschetta, avocado, fresh mozzarella, in the oven to melt the cheese) . That’s so good and now I’ll use this homemade bruschetta topping instead of buying pre-made.
I would love more lifestyle posts. Our boys are the same age, so close it’s crazy. I can relate so much and also love your tips and ideas. I have been reading for years (since 2012 I think) and will continue to!
Yes to more lifestyle posts! Love them and love your family. Also, last week, my meal prep came entirely from your blog, I love your recipes so much!
Yum, this recipe sounds great and I love the simple ingredients! Also, congrats on finding out your third child is a girl, it’s so exciting and I’m very happy for you and your family!
Yes! I love lifestyle posts and am in the trenches of pregnancy and toddlers so I would love to hear about the kiddos and maternity must-haves!
Would LOVE more lifestyle posts!
Agree with everyone on enjoying the lifestyle posts along with the recipes, but I find that reading content that isn’t consumer-driven is the most enjoyable and uplifting. I don’t want to spend my down time “shopping” (because shopping is not how I spend my time nor my money). Your Friday Favorites were a post I looked forward to – and still pull up each month to review a few for other recipes. I think now I look more toward contentment in what we have in our lives as a whole, not items. But in all honesty, I will still long for healthy, pantry-friendly recipes that you’ve created or modified to be peppered in between the other posts! I must recommend your site every week when someone at work is asking what a particular leftover is that I’ve brought in.
I love any kind of post from you! Many of my favorite go-to recipes are yours (and we’re not gluten free). I recommend your blog all the time. So please keep blogging about great recipes, but I love to read lifestyle posts too. You should definitely blog about what is inspiring you! My boys are 11 and 13 so I am out of the toddler and baby trenches, but it’s fun to remember those days through your stories!
What gluten free spaghetti do you use? Every spaghetti I’ve tried has been a gooey mess so I’ve stuck to penne or rotini.
Congrats on baby #3. Such a blessing!
I love lifestyle posts- clothes, decorating ideas, other people’s travel photos. Plus, I love it when you talk about Iowa. I started following you when I moved from Iowa to Virginia 8 years ago. Your posts about Iowa – such as the one about Maid Rites, give me a warm fuzzy reminder of “home”. I also stock away your recommendations on places you visit or eat for my next trip back to see family.
We’ve liked the Barilla brand gluten free spaghetti.
Yes to more lifestyle posts! Thanks Kristin.
I would love to see more lifestyle posts! I agree with earlier comments that I love reading about you and your story as well. I follow you on Instagram and your boys are just the cutest!
YES to more lifestyle posts!
Would LOVE more lifestyle posts-they are my fav to read!!!!
I would love more lifestyle posts! I enjoy your recipes but also appreciate hearing about what’s going on in your life. I have always liked the “currently” blog posts.
I would love to see lifestyle posts, especially a maternity favorites post! :)
Yes to lifestyle posts! Or any kind of posts from you.
Yes to lifestyle posts! I honestly prefer them to cooking. :)
This looks so easy and delicious! Loving all of the flavor in it!
I would read a BOOK written by you I love your posts so much. So yes please, more of whatever strikes your fancy to share:)
I give lifestyle posts a big THUMBS UP!!!
Yes, to posts about anything you want to blog about! You could blog about concrete drying and I’ll read it….you are hilarious!
More lifestyle please! 😊 Obviously, LOVE your blog for the food content as I have made everything at least once…but as a long time reader (and mama) I have been anxiously awaiting for the moment you expanded your blog to lifestyle as well! 😊💚
Yes to more lifestyle posts!! Have always loved Friday Favorites and the what-you’ve-been-up-to posts. Also, yay for Grandma visits and bigger yay to 99 years!! International Women’s Day indeed. She has seen some things. Love that you’re having a girl now. My husband’s family is two boys and then a girl. Love it, love it!
Yes to more lifestyle posts! I’m also expecting my 3rd due this summer, so it’s nice to read about those in the same stage of life I am in! :) I always go to your blog for recipe Ideas! thanks for all your great recipes!
It was your recipes that brought me to IGE but I do enjoy your lifestyle posts. As an ‘Indiana Girl’ my upbringing and the foods I grew up with are very similar to that of yours in Iowa. I wonder if you could flip/flop the lifestyle with the food recipes – rather than a recipe each week you have the lifestyle entry and taper the recipes to once or twice a month? I think as your kids get older you’ll be finding different ways to cook and different foods to cook as their tastes mature and you’ll find that you still have recipes to share. I have a 16 year old and a 12 year old – and my 16 year old is now making his own salsas and experimenting with different foods – quite different than just a couple of years ago when he ate burgers and chicken nuggets exclusively! Trust your instincts!
YES YES YES to more lifestyle posts!!!!
Ok. I’m going to be the voice of dissent here. If I wanted a life-style blog, I would have signed up for one. As one of the people that you occasionally mention that can’t have children, I HATE mommy-blogs! They hurt my heart. When you post baby stuff, I just delete it. My husband and I LOVE your recipes, but if this changes to a lifestyle/mommy blog, I’m going to be unsubscribing. You could do what Jessica Merchent does and make it a separate section of the blog.
She must be so thrilled with your permission to do what another blogger does. This whole comment was a little too dramatic. Turn it down to a six, maybe?
I love your lifestyle post too. Your recipes are beyond amazing and wonderful too! I have referred many with Celiac Disease to your website – you have changed their lives…really. Cutting back on the amount you post, 100% support. If you were my gal pal, I would say “Find your balance when the little one arrives. Don’t sweat it. Do what makes you the most happy. In the end, that is what matters. Your happiness and your family’s happiness.” ~Be you.
I think it’s great that you’ve been ensuring some work/life balance being a full-time mom and blogger! Lifestyle posts would definitely be interesting and a good mix-up for the blog. Also, your recipes are great and definitely worth waiting a few weeks/however much time you need to see some new ones. :)
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN= YESSSS. So good. And I LOVE the idea of more lifestyle posts!!!
I love your lifestyle posts and would be happy to see more of those, in addition to your great recipes! Also, Trader Joe’s has two amazing versions of their bruschetta (one refrigerated, one not) that could make this meal even quicker in a pinch!
Yes, I would LOVE more lifestyle posts! I read your blog to get inspiration for food, but I don’t ever follow recipes, so I tend to skim over that part. My baby boy just turned 1 and I love reading your lifestyle posts to see what I’m in for :)
I would read whatever you decide to blog about! I love the way you write. :) And congratulations on the girl!!! Yay!!! I have a boy and a girl and I love that idea that sisters make brothers better men.
I would love to see more non-recipe type posts :)
I would love to see more lifestyle posts!
Yes to more lifestyle posts!
I like your idea to change things up here on the blog…while I enjoy the recipes, hearing about your life with in the Midwest and your family would really be interesting as I live in central Washington State and have never been to your area….I say go for it!
I have been reading your blog for years and love the idea of more lifestyle posts!!!
I’d love more lifestyle posts! Day in the life, what you ate, daily routine with your two boys etc… I have 2 young boys as well and loved your blog back in the day when you would post your days and eats. I love your recipes as well:) congrats on your new little girl! My second baby took us a long time to conceive as well, so I definitely related to you on that. He is just a few months younger then Cameron now😀
Yes, Yes, Yes to more lifestyle posts! I miss your weekend recaps that you used to post. Also, holidays, etc. Bring em on!
I have to say, I rave to everyone about the amazing recipes I find on here – I would be happy to see new ones whenever you are able, but please don’t stop creating!!
I agree! More lifestyle posts! Just want to see posts from you no matter what it’s about :)
My brother is a better man because he has a sister–trust me! Congrats on the girl…so, so exciting! I’d LOVE more lifestyle posts. As much as my husband and I enjoy your recipes, I really miss your Friday Favorites and reading about your everyday life. I don’t suppose you travel much these days, but I enjoyed your travel posts too. TGIF!
Yes, to whatever you want to post about! I love reading lifestyle posts from my food bloggers. After so many years you really do feel like a friend so it’s fun to read about kiddos, travel, home, etc!
I love the idea of lifestyle posts interspersed with food posts. My family enjoys a lot of your recipes, but I also like getting to “know” you, too!
I only follow a few food bloggers (you are my favorite) and they’ve all really slowed down the recipes once they’ve had kids. I get it, but that is why I started to follow them so I do miss it! That being said, do what makes you and your family happy and what feels right!
Please do lifestyle posts! As much as I love your recipes, I always really enjoyed your lifestyle posts. I would love to hear your maternity recommendations and thoughts on transitioning from 2 to 3 kiddos and how you make it work as a work from home Mama.