Dinner in a hurry

I found out at the last minute today that we would be having my husband's family over for lunch tomorrow. And while they will be bringing the main course and sides, I volunteered to do a salad and dessert. Of course, for a person like me that loves to bake, a cake or pie from the store won't do, so that meant I would be spending tonight with my apron and mixer. With that on my mind, I did not want a complicated dinner. So I thought some pasta and fresh veggies would be good, and I figured I'd add some chicken too, for good measure. This pasta was done in under 20 minutes and was very delicious. I will definitely be making this again for those nights when I'm pressed for time. This made enough for the two of us with a little leftover.

Fettucine with spinach, tomatoes, and chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/3 of a 16 oz box of fettucine (most any pasta would work)
1 1/2 cups baby spinach, washed
1 small tomato, cut into chunks
1/2 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
extra virgin olive oil
parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Begin boiling the water for the pasta. Add pasta to salted water and boil for about 8 min or until al dente. Drain the pasta and place in a bowl with spinach. (The heat from the pasta will wilt the spinach down a little.) Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium/high heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to the pan. Cook for about 10 min or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the skillet and add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil to the pan along with the butter. When the butter is melted, add the chopped garlic. Saute for 2-3 min to cook the garlic. Pour garlic butter over the pasta and spinach and toss in the chicken and chopped tomato. Toss to combine all the ingredients. Add additional salt and pepper as needed. Top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

*a squirt of lemon juice right before serving would be good on this, too