Tomato-Basil Skillet Chicken

Here's a lightning-fast recipe using chicken tenders, which cook in less time than whole chicken breasts and thus remain tender and juicy. The recipe, from the Eating Well test kitchen, calls for canned diced and drained tomatoes, but since this is summer (aka prime-tomato season) I opted for fresh garden tomatoes instead and will save the canned version for winter.

There's no olive oil and very little Parmesan cheese here, whicn means this dinner is ZERO Weight Watchers Points if you make it as written. See notes below for more options.

Since there are just two of us, I had leftovers. Next night I added more spinach and a chopped heirloom tomato to the skillet when reheating. Mom would be proud of us for eating more veggies!

ZERO WW Point version:

1 to 1 1/4 lbs. chicken breast tenderloins

Nonstick cooking spray

1/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 (14.5) can of diced tomatoes, drained, or 1 lb. fresh cherry tomatoes, halved, or garden tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup snipped fresh basil

1 9 to 10-oz. package prewashed baby spinach

2 Tbsp. finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium-high.

Cook and stir chicken tenders in hot skillet about 5 minutes or until lightly browned on each side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add tomatoes and basil and heat through. Remove from heat and add spinach. Toss until wilted. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4

WW Points per serving: 0

NOTE: I didn't make this as written. Here are the changes I made which I give you merely as a suggestion;

1.) The recipe calls for adding the canned tomatoes to the skillet with the cooked chicken and no further cooking. Since I was using fresh tomatoes and didn't want to overcook the chicken, I removed the chicken to a plate after it was done and added the tomatoes and the basil to the skillet for several minutes to slightly cook them. Then I returned the chicken to the skillet and added the spinach.

2.) I added 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to the skillet and 2 cloves of minced garlic when I sautéed the chicken. Just before serving, I sprinkled on some lemon juice to further enrich and flavor the spinach et al.

3.) Finally, I brought the Parmesan cheese to the table and didn't measure what we added. This "ups" the WW Points and calories, but even with these additions, this is still a very healthful, low-calorie and low-fat entree. Go ahead and treat yourself.