Chicken and More Galore

This dish is full of delicious flavor and you can put it on top of pasta as well if you would like.  Tastes even better the next day and freezes very well too for the heat and eat!  Easy to prepare, few ingredients, so let's get started.


What you need:
~320 grams of cooked shrimp meat (those tiny shrimp that are used in salads) or crayfish.  I like to use half and half for the best flavor.  Don't buy frozen as it will add too much water to the dish and therefore flattening the taste.
~540 grams of frozen whole leaf spinach thawed, and rung out in a towel to dry out.   To thaw frozen spinach, place in a colander and run cold water over it and allow it to thaw and drain at the same time, OR you can do what I do and put it in the fridge the day before you use it and it will be thawed, but you will need to drain and squeeze it dried.  I do this with a kitchen towel and twist and ring it until dried out.
~6 Chicken tenders cut into bite size pieces
~1 pound of your favorite mushrooms.  Buttom mushrooms work well in this or baby bella mushrooms.
~About 15 sundried tomatoes cut in half (not the kind in the oil, get the softened kind you can find in a bag)
~3 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil and some for drizzling
~1/2 Cup Grana Padano cheese or Pecorino or Ramano
~2 Tsp salt (Seems like a lot, but really isn't once you get everything together and it's balanced really nicely) You can add more or less depending on your own salt tastes.  Remember to always start with less since you can add more, but it's difficult to balance something already too salty.
~1/4 Tsp pepper flakes or more if you like it hot
~2 Tsp Garlic powder (and some for sprinkling)
~Squeeze of 1 fresh lemon


Let's get to work:
1) Set aside your drained and strained spinach as instructed above.
2) Sautee chicken pieces in a large pan (this will be the pan you assemble it all in, so make sure it's large) until browned on both sides with a sprinkling of garlic powder and salt.  Don't turn too often so you give it time to brown nicely.  The browning actually ends up adding a lot of flavor to the dish. Once browned and done (do this on medium heat as to not dry out the chicken since you will be cooking it further later.  Set aside of the heat.
3) Rinse the shrimp meat or crayfish in a colander and drain on paper towels to dry, otherwise you will get too much water in the dish.  Add the shrimp meat to the chicken pan and another sprinkling of garlic powder.  Cook on low heat and set aside.  This is where the water in the pan will form if you didn't drain and dry the shrimp enough.  If this happens, you can take a pan strainer if you have one and strain out the extra liquid.  If you don't have that, no problem, just toss it all in a colander to drain and return to pan.  Don't cook too long as it will cook further later.
4)Rinse and cut ends of mushrooms, then slice and cut mushrooms in half to sautee in a pan.  Don't use oil.  You can use cooking spray if you prefer, I don't use oil or cooking spray and can still get them beautifully browned by not turning too often.


Assembly:
Break apart spinach with your hands and add on top of the chicken.  Add mushrooms, and sundried tomatoes, grated cheese, garlic powder, salt and 3 Tbsp olive oil and squeezed lemon juice.  Use tongs to flip and combine all the ingredients until the spinach is coating all the shrimp/chicken, etc and is overall blended in evenly.  You can use more olive oil if you want, I just use 3 tbsp for caloric reasons. =)  The more the better of course...  Taste and see if you need more salt, garlic powder, etc.  


Serve on a plate with a grate of Grana cheese and a nice drizzle of olive oil on top.  Enjoy!  Pretty enough to serve to guests, not to mention absolutely delicious!