Balsamic Spinach

Remember that yummy balsamic grilled chicken from last week?  Well, there was some leftover so we decided to have it for dinner tonight.  I was excited (because it was sooo good), but also not thrilled about reheating chicken.  Typically, leftovers go in the microwave in this house.  But, have you ever microwaved chicken?  It becomes tough and chewy and just plain old gross.  Through the years, I’ve discovered the best way to reheat chicken is in a pan with some liquid.  After searching the pantry and the fridge, I realized that I had some baby spinach leftover as well.  Since it was a balsamic chicken, I thought why not make some balsamic spinach and then nestle the chicken in it to reheat?  A perfect plan!

• Start by dicing 1/2 an onion and 1 big clove of garlic.

• Heat a tablespoon or so of butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

• Add a tablespoon of EVOO.

• Once the butter has melted into the EVOO, add the onion and garlic.  (Make sure you stir to coat the veggies in the butter-EVOO mixture!)

• Cook a few minutes, until the onion is tender and translucent and the garlic is golden brown.

• Add the baby spinach.  I’d say I used about 2/3 of a bag.  (Don’t worry if it’s too much for your skillet.  It cooks down so fast you can just add it in batches.)

• Cook for a few minutes, until wilted, stirring occasionally.

• Now, this is the point where I would add a few splashes of good balsamic vinegar.  I, however, somehow completely forgot about the balsamic (even though I was making balsamic spinach!).  I went right ahead to adding the leftover chicken.  Hopefully, you’ll remember the vinegar!

• After you add the vinegar and the chicken, cover the skillet.

• This is the point when I remembered the main ingredient:

• Luckily, I was able to salvage my original plan.  Once the chicken was pretty much warmed through, I removed the lid and poured in a few splashes of the balsamic.

• I let the balsamic reduce a little.  Eventually, I separated the chicken and most of the spinach in the skillet to make serving easier.

Once the balsamic had reduced a little and the chicken was warm, we were ready to eat!  To plate, I made a bed of spinach and placed the chicken on top.

Despite my momentary forgetfulness, the spinach came out really good.  A definite quick go-to side dish to join my repertoire!  And, it did its job of keeping the chicken moist and delicious!  Enjoy!