There are certain comfort foods, certain meals, from my childhood that I crave when I get stressed.

However, some of them don’t fit the way I like to eat on a regular basis…which means that if I really want them, I have to find a way to make them healthy.

So the other day when I was craving one of my favorite meals growing up, “Green Olive Pasta,” I had to find a way to make a healthy, gluten-free, variation of it. (I think I was a bit obsessed with green olives in general growing up actually…But anyway…)

If you love or crave garlic, olives and pasta, you may just want to try my Healthy Comfort Food Green Olive “Pasta.”

Green Olive “Pasta”

Servings 3-4
Ingredients:
4 cups cooked Spaghetti Squash
3/4lb Chicken Breast
1/4 cup green olives, sliced
1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
2 large clove garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp+1/2 tbsp oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut chicken into chunks and sprinkle with 1/2 tbsp oregano, 1 clove garlic and salt and pepper. Cook the chicken in a skillet until browned and cooked through.

While cooking the chicken, slice olives and tomatoes. Dice garlic. Add olives, tomatoes and 1 clove garlic to a bowl with olive oil, 1 tbsp oregano, salt and pepper.

Add cooked spaghetti squash to the mix as well. (To cook spaghetti squash, preheat oven to about 375. Cut in half and spoon out pulp and seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Cook for 30 minutes to an hour and a half depending on the size. The squash is done when you can easily scrap out pulp into strands using a fork.)

Add chicken to squash mixture once cooked. You can either serve the dish hot or as a cold “pasta.”

I find that the longer everything sits in the olive oil sauce, the more flavorful the dish becomes even if you choose to reheat it later!

What comfort foods from your childhood do you occasionally miss? Have you found a way to make a healthy variation of them?