Creamy Herb-Chive Chicken & Pasta

This is one of my favorite dishes to make for myself and to serve for company. It cooks quickly on the stovetop, or you can cook the sauce and then pour it over fresh raw chicken in a casserole dish and bake it, covered, in the oven for a longer time, if you'd rather just put something on and get out of the kitchen for a while.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 servings):

1 pound chicken breast tenderloins
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, lite butter, or Smart Balance
1/2 tub Philly Light cream cheese with chives
1 packet Italian dressing mix (like Good Seasons)
1 can low sodium cream of mushroom (or golden mushroom) soup
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1/2 box whole-wheat angel-hair pasta (Hodgson Mills makes some)*
*NOTE--if you'd rather use refined ("regular") pasta, use a whole box, as WW is more filling.

OPTIONAL, but very good additions: capers, marinated artichoke hearts, fresh asparagus

In a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat, melt butter. As soon as it's melted, very quickly add the Italian dressing mix. Since the dressing mix is salty, you might want to only add half at this time, taste-testing along the way. You can always add more later. Stir until well-blended, working quickly.

Get the chicken breast tenders on to cook, searing both sides well, but as quickly as you can. They'll have plenty of time to cook through later--right now you just want to sear the outside.

Once the chicken pieces are seared, add the 1/2 cup white cooking wine.

Immediately add the can of cream of mushroom soup, and the 1/2 tub of cream cheese.

Stir to blend all ingredients until well melted and blended, then reduce heat and set chicken and sauce to simmer.

Meanwhile, be steaming veggies or making a salad to go along with your dinner, and setting a pot of water on the stove to boil for your pasta. Just about the time your side dish is ready, it should be time to put the 1/2 box of whole-wheat pasta on to cook. For my family, I have to cook whole-grain pastas well past the "al dente" stage, or my husband won't eat it, because he's spoiled to refined pasta! If you ARE using "regular" pasta instead of whole-grain, go ahead and use a whole box, because the whole-grain variety is much more filling.

Plate pasta, place chicken pieces on top, and pour sauce over all. Garnish with capers if your husband is weird and doesn't like them, preventing you from having cooked them in with the sauce. Serve with steamed vegetables or salad or sauteed asparagus.

If I were serving this for company, I'd use the oven-bake method, and chicken breast halves instead of tenders. I'd probably slice each individual breast in diagonal pieces, and fan the pieces slightly over each plate of pasta, then pouring the sauce from end to end over the middle.