Host Ashley Thayer gives classic Italian comfort a healthy spin! 🇮🇹✨
Learn her fast Chicken Marsala—thin chicken breasts lightly dredged in whole-wheat flour, sautéed mushrooms, a splash of Marsala wine, and a silky pan sauce (pro tip: a pinch of unflavored gelatin in chicken broth = restaurant-style body). On the side: bright Spinach Lemon Pasta with Vidalia onion, garlic, and whole-wheat spaghetti.
It’s a balanced, family-friendly dinner with protein + veggies that still tastes like comfort. 🍗🍄🍋
#HealthAndSelf #AshleyThayer #HealthyItalian #ChickenMarsala #SpinachPasta #WholeWheat #WeeknightDinner #FamilyMeals #MushroomLovers #CookingShow #WellnessCooking #DETV
[Music] Welcome to health and self. My name is Ashley the and today I am sharing with you one of my favorite Italian dishes. I love Italian cuisine. Our family loves Italian cuisine. And so today I am going to share with you how to make a healthier version of chicken marsala with a side of spinach lemon pasta. Here’s what you’re going to need to get started. So I have four thin chicken breasts. They’re about really probably about two sliced um chicken breasts kind of sliced in half. You’re going to need whole wheat flour, a little bit of garlic powder, some unflavored gelatin. I’ll explain that a little bit later. Chicken broth, a little bit of butter. Yes, we have about a tablespoon of butter. You can still have butter even when you’re cooking healthy. About 15 oz of mushrooms. I have the baby bella. You can choose whatever kind you like, but I they have good flavor. And then Marsala wine, of course. And then for the spinach lemon pasta, super easy. We’re going to need a little onion, a little garlic, a little spinach, whole wheat pasta, and then of course parmesan cheese to top. And there will be some lemon that we will need also, but I’ve got those behind me. So, let’s get started on the chicken marsala. So, what I want to do is I want to take this 1/4 of a teaspoon of the unflavored gelatin. If you could get grass-fed gelatin, that’s good. You’re just going to sprinkle it on top of your 1/4 cup of chicken broth. And we’re just going to set this aside for later. And we’re gonna let those two kind of get combined. Then we’re going to create our dredge for our chicken. So we’ve got our thin chicken breasts. We’ve got our whole wheat flour. And I’m going to grab a dish. So we’re going to add this is about half a cup of whole wheat flour. Add that in. And then this is about a half a teaspoon of garlic powder. Again, you just want to season this up. Then we’re also going to add a little bit of salt and pepper. All right. About a/4 teaspoon of each. I’m just going to swirl this around. Okay. Now, I have a skillet here. I’m going to turn it on medium almost mediumigh heat and we’re going to let that start to heat and then we’ll add some olive oil into there. Now I’m going to take my chicken breasts and just flip them in the flour. Easy peasy. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. No, the reason why we do this is so that way you kind of start to get the idea um of a breaded chicken, which is a lot of times what you find in chicken morsala, but because we’re using a whole wheat flour and we’re just just kind of coating them, lightly coating them, we’re creating just a little bit healthier and cutting down the carb. Now, our pan, I’m going to add about a tablespoon of olive oil. Use your cap if you don’t have a measuring spoon. And what I like to do is I love to just pour the olive oil right into the cap. And that helps us to kind of measure it out. And if you think about the tablespoon of olive oil, I mean, it’s going across four chicken breasts, so it’s okay. Olive oil is also a hearthealthy oil, so we definitely like that. All right, our pan is starting to heat up. Going to crank it up just a little bit more. Okay, I’m going to finish dredging my chicken. So, I did say four chicken breasts, but there was a little thin escapey in there, so we ended up having five. That’s okay. A bonus one. My husband would find the bonus one for sure. He loves this dish. We all love this chicken marsala dish. Okay, so my chicken is coated. You can see the flour. We’ve got the seasoning. We seasoned the flour. And then we’re going to throw them in the pan. Okay. So, that’s heated. Now, how do you know when your oil is heated? When you start to kind of swirl it around the pan, you’re looking for little um kind of like waves that happen with the oil. That lets you know that it is heated. Now, one thing I do have going next to my pan, just so you’re if you’re curious, is I have a pot of water. Water takes forever to boil. A watch pot never boils. So, I’ve got that going so that way we can start our pasta once we get the chicken going. All right, this is nice and hot. Now, I’m going to take my chicken breast and just sit them in the oil and they’re going to start to sizzle. Because they are thinner chicken breasts, they won’t take long to cook at all. Also, you’re getting all of the same protein ideas um and nutrients from the chicken breast, but not as many calories because we’ve opted for the thinner chicken breast. Slide these around so I can fit my fifth one into there. My bonus one. Okay, you hear it starting to sizzle already, which is good. All right, we’re going to let those start to sizzle away. leave my tongs. Okay. So, while that’s going, we’re going to start to prepare our mushrooms. So, like I said, I like to choose um I like to do the baby bella, but you can kind of do whatever your grocery store has. When you get your mushrooms, um take a damp paper towel and wipe them down. Don’t submerge them in water to wash them. Yes, mushrooms grow in dirt, but the whole idea is just to kind of lightly clean them off, but you don’t want them to absorb all the water. They’re very porous vegetable or fungi. So, I like to cut them in quarters. I keep it pretty simple depending on how big they are. Sometimes when they’re a little bigger, I like to cut them a little bit smaller. But, we’re going to go ahead and get these chopped up while our chicken’s cooking. All right. Do your kids like mushrooms? We’re We’re a split household as far as the girls go. So, there’s four of them. Two like mushrooms and two don’t, but they love the chicken marsala. And I think it’s maybe because of the flavors that it has that it lends. It’s easy weekn night dish. So, even for a kind of traditional Italian comfort food, this way is very easy to make on a week night when we’re running and ripping to practices. So, some of these big ones, you can see I’m cutting down just a little bit smaller than the traditional quarters. I like mushrooms, so why not? Now, one other thing we will need for our dish towards the end is some fresh parsley. You can grow this. I grow it at home. I love to grow it outside in a container garden and indoors as well in a I have an indoor kind of aquaponic garden that I like to grow some indoor herbs. Now you can hear the chicken sizzling away. Let’s check it here. Perfect. So, they’re already starting to brown on one side. You can see there. We’re going to go ahead and flip them. And then once they get nice and brown on the other side, we’re actually going to remove them from the pan and set them aside. Okay, so that’s going there. I’m going to grab another sautĂ© pan. My water’s starting to come closer to a boil for our spinach lemon pasta because we’re going to actually sautĂ© spinach with a little bit of onion and a little bit of garlic. So, while we’re waiting for that, let’s go ahead and get our pasta ingredients going. So, I have one clove of garlic and I have a quarter of a Vidalia onion. Um, I love Vidalia onions. They have a sweeter flavor than your traditional onions. um than your traditional like white onion or yellow onion. But for my daughters who I don’t know, sneak onion in for flavor, um the Vidalia onion is a good way to go. So, if your kids are not the lover of onions, then that’s definitely the way you want to go. Now, with my onion, I’m going to just do little slices, almost like little ringlets, so that way it will actually mimic the pasta as it’s cooked. Make them as thick or as thin as you’d like. Okay, so that’s that. Now for the garlic. Slide my onion over. Nice thing about big cutting boards, you can kind of have everything at your fingertips. Now for the garlic. To peel it. We’re going to take the heel of your knife and the heel of your hand and you’re going to smush it down. Uh-oh. Run away. Garlic, run away. It’s okay. Live TV. The peel’s still on. So, we’re going to smush it. And then it actually makes it easier to peel. It also releases all of those fun flavors of the garlic that you are looking for. All of the juices, the oils, the natural oils that are in the garlic. All right, cut off the bottom. And then you can just do a little thin slice on this. Mince it up. Doesn’t have to be perfect. Now, you can buy already minced garlic in the store. um just be mindful of what it’s soaking in. Sometimes it they soak it in olive oil. So, you just want to if you are watching your um kind of fats and oil content in your dishes, that’s something you want to keep in mind. Okay. I think my chicken breast is about done. Oh, yes. All right. Turn my fire down some. And then I’m going to grab a plate and we’re going to sit these off to the side so that way we can start to make the marsala. All right. Yes. Smells so good. Okay. Fabulous. Okay. Turn this down just a little bit more. Set these aside. We’re going to add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. And we’re going to get all the yummy bits off of the pan. We are also going to add our tablespoon of butter. There we go. All right. Let me clean up my dishes here. Okay. So, that’s starting to go. Let me grab a little thing to toss. Spread it around. There we go. Okay. So, we’re starting to get the little bits. Now, we’re going to add our mushrooms. Just throw them right in and let them start sautĂ©ing down. Fabulous. M. Mushrooms also have kind of a meteor flavor. So, if you are more plant-based, mushrooms are a great substitute for meats. Now, granted, you wouldn’t be eating chicken marsala if you were plant-based, but you could try maybe like a tofu steak marsala. Okay, so we’re starting to sautĂ© these. Now, we’re going to add our chicken broth with the gelatin. Remember, we mixed that in. What this is going to do, this is going to help us create the gravy that you expect with Marsala. And because of the gelatin, it actually thickens it up for you. M get a little steam facial there if you’d like. Okay, we’re going to let those simmer just a little bit. Take your heat down to medium to medium low or low medium. Um, and we’re just going to let those sautĂ© just a little bit to soften them up. Now, my water’s slowly starting to come to a boil. I’m going to heat my second skillet on on There we go. And I’m going to put it on medium high so that way we can start to heat that up and we can sautĂ© our onions, garlic, and then our spinach. I’m going to chop up my garlic just a little bit more. Nobody wants to eat a huge chunk of garlic. Definitely not first date material. It’s just kind of run your knife through it. Slide it back through. Run your knife back through again. This is how I like to mince. I’m sure there’s probably like a more professional way, but you know, I’m only a home chef. I am not a culinary trained chef. I’m just a mom who tries to bring good food to our kids on week nights, fast dishes. Okay, so our pan is starting to heat up. Let me move my mushrooms around a little bit more. So, now get all the little bits off the bottom of the pan. Now I’m going to add the Marsala wine. I have about 1/4 cup of Marsala wine. Some grocery stores sell this. I found mine at my local uh liquor store because we live here in Delaware. Um not all grocery stores sell things that have an alcohol content. Actually, most don’t. So, we’re going to add the Marcela wine. crank up my heat a little bit because we want this to come to a boil or at least a rolling simmer. Okay, you can already start to smell the marsala. My water is boiling for my pasta. Now, I have thin whole wheat spaghetti. I love thin whole wheat spaghetti. It’s easy. It cooks fast. We’re going to use about a half a box. Now, I’m going to do the cardinal sin of making pasta. I’m going to break it. Yes, I know. But the reasoning is is because I’d love for it. Number one, I’ve got this cool little nifty difty pasta cooker thanks to Chef Dana. And we’re making this as kind of like a side dish. So, we don’t need the full kind of spaghetti noodles. So, I’m breaking them into half or into thirds. Add that in. Now, my water is salted as well. Added about a tablespoon, excuse me, a teaspoon of salt to my water. We’re going to shake that down. Get that fully submerged and let that pasta start cooking. Throw my box away. Throw my trash away. All right. So, my sautĂ© pan for my spinach and onions and garlic is heating. We’re going to add another teaspoon of olive oil. Again, remember the little trick I taught you with the cap? Saves dishes, too. So, that way you don’t have to wash your measuring spoons over and over and over and over and over again. Okay, now we’re going to add our onion. Remember, this was a quarter of a Valia onion that we just kind of thinly sliced into rings. add it in so it can start to sautĂ©. All right, there we go. And then we’re going to add our one clove of garlic that we chopped up. Again, quick, easy, but very, very flavorful. Me clean off my station and then we will get going on the next part of our chicken marsala. And that is to add the chicken back to the mushrooms and the Marsala wine mixture that we have going. Essentially your Marsala gravy happening there. Okay. Smells good. The other thing too, if you’re ever worried about using wine when you’re cooking, especially with kids, when you heat the w um basically the wine, it actually starts to cook off the alcohol. So, your kids aren’t going to get buzzed from the Marsala wine. Okay, we’re going to add our chicken breast back into our Marcala wine and mushrooms. So, that way they can continue cooking and they can also absorb all of the yummy flavor of the mushrooms and the marcala wine. All right, toss those around. Get them coated too with the sauce. And remember, we lightly dredged them with the flour. That’ll also help to thicken up your Marsala gravy. Okay, that’s going. Throw this in the sink. So, you guys know I always joke about how my daughters have to do the dishes, but you know, they have to have chores. It teaches them responsibility. It’s fun, and they don’t get an allowance for it. All right. So, now let me grab another little spatula for our spinach lemon pasta. There we go. I’m going to use this one. Move the onions around and the garlic. Very fragrant. And we’re going to add our spinach. Now, I love to add vegetables as much as I can to pasta dishes. Even just your average spaghetti. I love to add vegetables. So, spinach is high in iron. So good for you. good fiber content, too, iron, vitamin C, as well as a little bit of folate. But it’s a neat way when it’s mixed with the pasta, kids don’t really know. They just eat it. And I’ll tell you, if you’re worried about your kids like eating spinach, now granted, grew up in the 80s. We had Popeye. He ate his spinach and it was cool and he’d eat a whole can and then he’d give you his muscle and then you’d see the spinach on his muscle. But with kids, get them in the kitchen. Get them to help you cooking and then they will learn to love vegetables like spinach, even Brussels sprouts. Okay, so we’re starting to sautĂ© that. Let that start to wilt down. And it doesn’t have to cook all the way through because spinach is tastes amazing raw or sauteed. Now, we do need one lemon. Remember, cuz I said it’s a lemon and spinach pasta. I’ll grab a smaller one. Now, when you have a lemon, roll it. So, lemon is high in vitamin C. Great if you’re feeling a little bit under the weather. Throw your lemon in your water. Throw it in your tea. throw it in your sparkling soda, anything. So, but we roll it to release the juices, which is really good. So, when we go to squeeze it into our pasta, it’ll be ready to go. I’m going to just cut it in half so it’s ready to go. There we go. See? Look how juicy it is already. You can see all the juices. So, fantastic. Okay, I’m gonna move the spinach around a little bit and I’m going to move the chicken marsala around a little bit again just to help get more of those flavors. M smells so good. Okay, the other beauty of using thin pasta, thin spaghetti, is that it cooks really fast. So, our noodles are just about done. Now, do you know how to test to see if your noodles are done? They say throw them up against a wall. Take not the whole thing of noodles. Just one. Just one noodle. But they’re hot. I’m not going to do it. All right. So, I am going to pull this out. I’m going to turn my burner off and I’m going to transfer it right over. And we want a little bit of the pasta water too to come on in. That’ll help keep it nice and loose. Kind of create a little sauce. And then we’re just going to fold in the spinach. Fold in the onions. Fold in the spinach. So, with the mushrooms, with the spinach, your meal is going to contain about 1 and 1/2 servings of vegetables, which is good cuz our goal is to eat at least one serving of vegetables each meal. So, you’re getting one and a half. So, you’re on the winning side of that. Now, I’m going crank my heat all the way down. Okay. And if you need to, you can always take a little bit of that extra pasta water and add it to to help create a sauce. Actually, I’m going to grab about a tablespoon worth of pasta water. The pasta water has nice starches already in that were cooked down. We’ll do two. Okay. Now for the lemon, you can squeeze it into your hand to keep the seeds out, but I do have a nifty nifty lemon squeezer. Lemon squeeze. Yes, please. Um, I like to do a whole lemon. Depending on your lemon choice, again, just to maximize that vitamin C content, but if you’re not a lemon lover, then just do half a one. And that’s perfectly fine, too. Just give it a good squeeze. Now, if you were having this probably in an Italian restaurant, they’d top it with some a little additional olive oil to kind of dress it, but we are trying to control some of those aspects. I will add about a/4 of a teaspoon of kosher salt just to the top as a finish. So, you don’t need to cook with a whole lot of salt. And then about the same of pepper. Toss this around. You can smell the lemon as it hits the heat. But remember, we’ve turned our heat down. So, we’re kind of no longer cooking this. We’re just letting the flavors get combined. And our chicken marsala looks like it’s about done as well. Perfect timing on both. Again, weekn night meal. There’s no cut, take stop the tape. We’re cooking this straight through. So, that way you know that this is an easy weekn night meal for you. Oh yes, this smells amazing. Okay, let’s plate. I’m ready to eat. I don’t know about you, but I am. Let me grab a plate. Now, when I’m cooking this at home, between my husband, Deran, and my oldest daughter, Jordan, I cannot get it onto the plate before they’re coming in and stealing mushrooms. Remember I said we’re like a divided household when it comes to mushrooms and they are already usually over here kind of surrounding the stove trying to steal things from the pan and then they usually end up burning their mouths. So that’s what they get. Okay, I’m going to take some of the spinach lemon pasta. Remember we did the garlic and the onions. Get some of that spinach in there. Beautiful. Okay. And now we’re going to come over and get one of our chicken breasts. That was a little bonus piece. And we’re going to get some of the Marsala sauce and mushrooms. And use my tongs to get the mushrooms. And I get a little spoon so I can really get some of that yummy gravy because that’s the beauty, you know, with comfort food. but making it a little healthier. You still want all of those aspects of the comfort. Oh, let me grab this one out of here. Too many drawers, too many cabinets. Okay. M just drizzle some. I got a bonus mushroom, too. Okay, this looks delicious. Turn my heat down. There we go. M. Now I’m going to take a little bit of Parmesan cheese and top it over top of my spinach lemon pasta. You can throw it over top of the chicken marsala as well. And remember I said you’re going to need a little bit of parsley. So I like to grow it at home. Just grab a couple of sprigs and then just break them. You could chop it if you’d like, but I think you start to lose some of the earthiness of it. And then just sprinkle it right on top. Okay. Grab a fork and a knife. However, the beauty of chicken marsala and using the thin chicken breasts is that they’re easy to cut and you don’t need a knife. You can always just use a fork. M. Get a little bit of the lemon pasta. Let’s do a whole big bite together. M. So good. Such a perfect pairing. You have the marsala and the mushrooms, but then that little freshness and brightness of the lemon pasta. But guess what? I’m getting all of the lovely like vitamins from the lemon and the spinach. So good. So good. And remember, we did get to use a little bit of butter, so you can kind of taste it in the mushrooms. So amazing. Okay, so chicken marsala weekn night healthy version for you. That lemon spinach pasta, trust me, once you try this, you may have a hard time going back to regular chicken marsala. Anyway, thanks for joining us today. I’m going to keep eating cuz this is so good. I think I need to not share with the group and not share with my family, but I’m going to keep eating. See you next week right here on Health and Self. [Music] [Music]
Dining and Cooking