Spinach & Artichoke Casserole with Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
This high-protein chicken casserole clocks in right around 400 calories to help you end your day feeling satisfied—not starved or overly full.
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Recipe Summary
Nutrition Profile:
Our series, Hormones & Our Health: How What You Eat May Affect How They Work, explores the vast role hormones play in the body and the diet and lifestyle factors that help them function as they should.
This high-protein Cheesy Spinach & Artichoke Casserole with Chicken & Cauliflower Rice clocks in right around 400 calories to help you end your day feeling satisfied—not starved or overly full. Leptin is the hormone that signals fullness and tells your body to stop eating, and protein, be it chicken or beans, helps increase leptin sensitivity, or how effective your body is at picking up on those fullness cues.
The cauliflower rice, spinach and artichoke hearts provide fiber and help to keep this dinner on the lighter side, while still filling. This combination of protein and veggies is especially helpful when it comes to losing weight or simply maintaining a healthy weight. You won't feel deprived with a dinner like this! Plus, a little cheese goes a long way to help make this a comforting, cozy meal.
Ingredients
Directions
Tip
Look for prepared cauliflower rice with other prepared vegetables in the supermarket produce or freezer section. To make your own, place cauliflower florets in a food processor and pulse until broken down into rice-size granules. One 2-pound head of cauliflower yields about 4 cups of cauliflower rice. If using frozen cauliflower rice, be sure to thaw and pat dry to remove excess moisture.
Recipe Updates
Based on earlier review and comments of this recipe, we've retested and made the following adjustments (and updated the nutritional analysis accordingly):
Removed the chicken broth (to reduce the amount of liquid).
Swapped the mozzarella cheese for dill Havarti (to boost flavor).
Added fresh dill (to boost flavor).
Swapped the Greek yogurt for reduced-fat cream cheese (for a creamier texture).