Spinach & Artichoke Chicken

One little picture posted from my kitchen the other night and bam!....all kinds of requests for the recipe.  Credit to busybuthealthy.com (don't you love that domain!?) for sharing this easy and yummy (oh, and healthy!) recipe.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  I will say, my anti-coconut husband said he could taste the coconut.  I didn't.  There was certainly a somewhat sweet undertone, but I really didn't get coconut.  I think it was a mental thing, personally.  But hey, he ate it and went back for more...
 
What You'll Need:

• 4 6 oz chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and chopped
• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 14 oz can light coconut milk
• 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp gluten-free all purpose flour (or regular all purpose if not gluten-free)
• Optional: salt & pepper (as needed)

What You'll Do:

• In a large skillet, heat to medium high heat. Spray with oil if needed for non stick. Season chicken breasts lightly with salt and pepper (if using).
• Brown each chicken breast on both sides (about 5-6 minutes per side if thick).
• Remove from pan and set aside on a plate (they won't be cooked through at this point).
• In the same skillet, turn down to medium heat, melt the butter, and add in the chopped garlic and let cook for 30 seconds to let the garlic get a bit golden. Then add the flour and whisk until it makes a rue. Let it cook for 30 seconds, then slowly add the can of coconut milk. Keep whisking until the milk mixture is smooth (aside from the chunks of garlic).
• Let the milk mixture thicken a bit, then add in the Parmesan cheese and whisk until its melted in. Sauce will start to thicken. Add in the chopped artichokes, and frozen spinach. I added in my spinach frozen (they were spinach nuggets) and separated it as it melted. If its frozen spinach in a box, you might want to thaw it in the microwave beforehand and squeeze out a bit of the excess liquid and measure out 1 cup.
• Place the chicken breasts back in the spinach/artichoke mixture and simmer all together with the lid off until the chicken is cooked through. The sauce will thicken a bit more as it simmers...just make sure you keep the lid off or it might get watery. 

We skipped the salt; there was enough salt in the cheese to season things well enough.