Pan Roasted Chicken with Baked Spaghetti Squash and Roasted Tomatoes

Do you eat a lot of spaghetti squash? Up until recently I'd have said no, but in the last month or so, I've found myself baking one 3-4 times a week because we all love it so much and it's so good for you too! Here, it serves as the base to sop up the wonderfully delicious lemony/white wine sauce that accompanies these easy pan roasted chicken breasts. Toss some roasted tomatoes onto the plate and you've got an amazing plateful of comfort food that's good for you too!

But before we get to this amazing all-in-one dish, I wanted to share with you my newest video from the great folks at Hooplaha. This one features my son Simon and his girlfriend, Lauren (along with yours truly) and they are the cutest couple, if I do say so myself. We're making Wolfgang Puck's Fresh Tomato Grilled Pizza, which I featured in my Famous Fridays series a couple of months ago. It's a lot of fun! I've been playing it over and over so I get a chance to see them since they're both away at college now and I miss them so much!! Take a look if you have a chance!

Now, back to the food. I made this on a Sunday night after a long, busy, hockey-filled weekend and it was the perfect end or start to the week (however you want to look at it!) You could definitely make this on a weeknight--it's not hard, but the squash does need about an hour to bake, so you've got to factor that in. As mentioned, you start off by roasting the squash with a little water, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Halfway through the baking time, you roast the tomatoes with some red onion, oil and balsamic vinegar too.

While those are cooking, you start on the chicken, searing it in a cast-iron or heavy skillet and eventually adding white wine and lemon juice to the pan.

When the squash is all done and cool enough to handle, you run a fork through it, shredding it into spaghetti-like strands and mixing it with a bit more olive oil and some grated Parmesan if you like. It's so cool, 'cause it really acts like spaghetti but is low in calories and carbs!! A perfect win-win!!

Everything comes together so prettily that you'll feel like you're eating in some cozy bistro. And the taste is fantastic--tender pan-roasted chicken sitting atop the almost creamy,mildly-spiced spaghetti squash accented by those tangy balsamic roasted tomatoes and onions and all held together with a delicate white wine and lemon sauce. So many flavors and textures and they all balance out perfectly! Definitely going to go into the regular dinner rotation--try it and let me know what you think!

Pan Roasted Chicken with Baked Spaghetti Squash and Roasted Tomatoes (and a new video too!)

Makes about 4 servings

Prep Time: A little more than an hour but only half of that is hands-on time.

Ingredients

For the Roasted Spaghetti Squash

1 large spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and cleaned out of seeds
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (you can omit this and it's still amazing)
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

For the Roasted Tomatoes

6 plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds) halved the long way
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

For the Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds--it's ok if you use a bit more)
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
The juice of 1 lemon
1 cup dry white wine

The Recipe

1. To make the spaghetti squash: Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place the squash halves, cut side down on a large rimmed baking sheet. Pour the water, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar over the squash and place the baking sheet in the oven. Roast for about 1 hour.

2. When squash is tender enough that you can pierce the skin with a fork, remove from oven. Let cool until you can handle it, and then turn both halves right side up. Run a fork through the squash to shred it into long spaghetti-like strands. Scoop all of the squash into a large bowl and stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.

3. To make the Roasted Tomatoes: When the squash has been cooking for about 30 minutes, place the cut tomatoes and sliced onion on a rimmed baking sheet or dish. Drizzle with the oil and vinegar, sprinkle on some salt and pepper and toss to coat well. Spread the tomatoes out and place them cut side down on the sheet. Make sure the onions and tomatoes are in a single layer. Roast for about 30-35 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the tomatoes are soft and have shriveled up and the vinegar on the bottom of the pan has turned a golden caramelized brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.

4. To make the Chicken: When you put the tomatoes and onion into the oven to roast, you can start preparing the chicken. Rinse the chicken with water and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.

5. In a cast iron or heavy skillet, melt the butter and oil over medium-high heat until sizzling. Add chicken, lower the heat to medium and cook for about 8 minutes, until chicken has a nice golden brown crust. Turn chicken and add the lemon juice and wine to the pan. Turn the heat to medium-low and let the chicken cook for another 10 minutes until fully cooked through (you may need to do it longer if you have very thick pieces), spooning the liquids in the pan over the tops of the chicken breasts often. You can test for doneness by cutting into the middle of one of the pieces. If the juices run clear, then chicken is ready. If not, let it cook for another few minutes. The remove the chicken, transfer it to a plate and cover it loosely with a piece of foil.

6. Lower the heat and let the pan juices simmer for a few minutes so that they thicken a little bit. Meanwhile place a large mound of the spaghetti squash on the dinner plates. Top each mound with one of the chicken breasts and add a few of the roasted tomatoes and onions. Pour the pan-sauce evenly over the chicken on the plates. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Note: Recipe adapted from Fresh Every Day by Sara Foster. I tweaked the measurements and spices quite a bit for this dish and also used boneless, skinless breasts instead of boneless breasts with the skin on. If you want the chicken to have a crispy skin, use the skin on boneless breasts and tuck 2 tablespoons of fresh marjoram leaves under the skin. Also, I cut the amount of oil and Parmesan cheese for the squash and omitted the fresh rosemary from both the squash and the roasted tomatoes.