Creamy Dairy-Free Chicken and Pasta

This was one of the first meals I fixed dairy-free.  Usually made with milk or heavy cream, this version is a little lighter, but still full of flavor and very satisfying.  I also make it with gluten-free pasta, but any pasta will do if you can tolerate the wheat version.


Creamy Dairy-Free Chicken and Pasta
2 cups pre-cooked chicken pieces*
1 can coconut water (canned, not in a carton; note, NOT coconut milk)
1 box pasta of your choice (any shape, any style; I like GF penne or rotini, but any will work)
2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp Arrowroot starch (alternatives: 2 Tbsp corn starch, or GF flour, or regular flour)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
OPTIONAL: dash of poultry seasoning, or 1/4 cup mushrooms
2 tomatoes, chopped into large chunks
1/2 cup frozen spinach (2 cups fresh spinach cooked down works as well)


*The pre-cooked chicken can be leftover baked chicken, mildly seasoned will work fine but you don't want something that was heavily flavored.  I like to cook a crock-pot full of chicken thighs and legs every few weeks, pull the meat off and store it in the freezer for a quick meal prep later, that's what I use for this recipe.


If you don't have pre-cooked chicken, you can cook a couple of chicken breasts on the stove top, seasoning them with salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic and onion powder.  Remove from the pan and slice into bite-sized pieces; set aside for later.


In a large pot, bring salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta per instructions on the box.  Drain; set aside.


In a separate pan (or if you want to save on dishes, you can use the now-empty pasta pot), combine the oil and the arrowroot powder to make a loose paste.  Cook till bubbly.  Add about half the can of coconut water and stir vigorously; the liquid will thicken quickly as it heats.  You can add more coconut water if you want a thinner sauce; I really eyeball it, but often I end up using most of the can because I like a lot of sauce.


Now you have a roux, or a basic white sauce.  Don't be thrown off by the coconut water; it's a very mild coconut flavor which will vanish under the seasoning.  The only difference in how you work with this vs a regular milk-based roux is that coconut has a natural sweetness to it, moreso than milk.  In my old white sauces I usually added a dash of sugar to offset the savory flavor; with coconut water, you don't usually need to do that, it's sweet enough.


From here you can add a variety of seasonings, depending on what you're going for.  For this recipe, add the onion and the garlic powder, with enough salt to make it taste right.  We're going for creamy and savory, not cheesy per se.  I have also added a dash of poultry seasoning to make it a bit richer, but you could get the same effect with mushrooms too.


I've given you some measurements for the seasonings, but these are just a jumping off point. I don't measure anything, so I apologize that I don't have more exact amounts for you.


Once you've got the sauce where you want it, add the spinach.  I usually use a handful of frozen spinach, but you could absolutely use fresh.  Just fry it up in a separate pan with a bit of oil to cook it down, then add it to the sauce.  (If you're using mushrooms, fry them up with the spinach.)


In the pasta pot, put it all together: chicken, pasta and sauce and combine thoroughly.  Check your flavors again, the pasta will change things a bit.  Last of all, toss in the tomato chunks and serve.


I have fed this to picky eaters and children, and everyone so far has loved it.  With a little practice, you can basically cook this all with that one pot.  It's hearty, flavorful, filling and creamy without needing one bit of dairy to accomplish those goals.


One last pro tip: This recipe originally called for parmesan added at the last minute, to really bring out the flavors. Not gonna lie, that is a VERY nice additive.  But of course, being dairy free, I can tell you that the dish is completely tasty without it.  And to be honest.....just add a little more salt.  The primary flavor in parmesan is brine, which is SALT.  So don't be shy on the salt, and chances are you won't even miss the parmesan.


But if you REALLY need something extra to make this dish taste right.....there is a recipe for home made vegan parmesan that I find to be simply outstanding; I have a hard time not eating it with a spoon, to be honest.  I have not tried it on this dish yet, but I'm guessing it will work very well:


https://lovingitvegan.com/vegan-parmesan-cheese/


So there you go!  Give it a try, and let me know if you like it.  Also, feel free to ask any questions, since I was a bit nebulous on the measurements.




ALLERGEN NOTE: Coconut is also a common allergen.  This recipe could absolutely be made with unflavored chicken broth instead; it'll taste a bit more like gravy instead of a creamy sauce, but still very tasty.  BE SURE TO ADD some sweetener, I'd say about 1 tsp sugar or an equivalent, because you won't have the sweetness of the coconut water to offset the savory seasonings.

Ditching the SAD Diet

I love the Standard American Diet. 


It's tasty, no question about it.  All that creamy, cheesy comfort food, deep fried and loaded with sugar.  What's not to love?


But most of us know that what we eat in this country is not exactly the healthiest, as evidenced by the fact that we get sicker and heavier every year.  So as much as our favorite foods may soothe the soul, they sure don't do any favors for the rest of us.


When I went dairy free almost a year ago, I realized that my go-to favorite foods were going to take a major hit.  And they did!  I couldn't even think about it at first, I just focused on the very tasty foods that I could enjoy without dairy. 


I did attempt a few dairy substitutes.  They were......ok. Ish. 


I've learned an important less that I want to pass along to you: when cutting dairy out of your diet, DO NOT go straight to the substitutes.  They're expensive, and they're an acquired taste. 


An acquiring that is much more successful when your tastebuds have had time to forget what real dairy tastes like.


Don't get me wrong, many of the dairy-free substitutions that I choked down initially have become a favorite for me now.  You DO adjust.


Just....don't try to adjust immediately.  Seriously.


So here I am, a year on, and I find that most of my creamy, favorite comfort foods are still within my grasp.  Do they taste the same without dairy?  NO.  Are they tasty and soul-soothing? ABSOLUTELY.


And there's the real trick.  See, making a major change in your diet is all in your head.  I mean, it's in your kitchen too, duh, but the REAL change happens inside you.  When you decide for yourself that nothing - NOTHING - is worth feeling sick, that ANY change can be made if it's for the better - then you've already won.  The rest is just details.


At the end of the day, when we turn to food for comfort, we give it control over our lives.  Control it doesn't deserve.  Food is AWESOME, it's meant to be tasty and comforting. But it cannot fill the hole in our souls.  And learning to appreciate food for what it is, and recognize what it ISN'T, is a game changer.


I still get immense enjoyment and comfort from the foods I eat.  And I am OK with the fact that they don't taste like they used to.  Because that was part of a different ME, the me that was sick and miserable and a slave to a particular taste or texture.  There was a lot about that time in my life that I enjoyed, and I do not regret one bite.  I just choose to do things differently now, and I enjoy the new diet that I have.


So chin up, there's life after diet change!  A GREAT life, if your heart and soul are moving in the direction willingly and with gratitude for all the many blessings in life.


I'll be including some of my favorite dairy-free recipes here as time allows.  They'll also be free of other allergens I've had to cycle out of my diet - gluten, soy, potato, peanuts.  I'll be sure to mark what allergens may be in each recipe, since my list has fluctuated over the last 12 months.


In the mean time, bon appetit!