As you may know, I'm more than a little prone to food cravings. My husband, on the other hand, never seems to have any sort of opinion about food* until it's cooked and sitting in front of him. Our completely opposite (yet disturbingly complementary) food preferences put together mean that we eat whatever I feel like on any given day--and these days, I have been craving fresher, springier meals (in no small part thanks to the blahness of the SNAP Challenge.) So, easy, right? Why not just make springy stuff and be done with it?
I've been feeling terrible for the last month or so due to medication changes,** so I haven't really had the pain tolerance or level of concentration to stand in the kitchen and think about/experiment with a nice salad or tasty spring lamb. What's a disabled homemaker to do? Why, fall back on one of those easy-peasy go to meals--and put a twist on it, of course!
*except that bacon > beef > everything else
**sometimes, generic =/= name brand side effect-wise, it seems.
Lemon-Balsamic Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and pounded thin
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter, divided
4-6 cloves garlic, minced (less if you don't love garlic)
1/4 cup lemon juice, plus the zest of one lemon
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (I used lemon-balsamic)
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper, to taste
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil and 1 tbsp of
the butter until melted. Add the garlic and cook until softened and
browned, about 3 minutes, stirring often.
Dredge the chicken breasts in flour, shaking off the excess before
placing into the pan on top of the garlic. Cook until lightly browned,
about 3-4 minutes per side. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, chicken broth,
salt, and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and
simmer about 10 minutes, or until cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pan to a platter and tent with tin foil.
Add the lemon zest to the pan, then increase the heat to medium-high. Allow the sauce to simmer
until thickened, 3-5 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons
of butter to make a gravy. Add more chicken stock (or lemon juice) if the gravy
is thicker than you'd like.
(I served this with couscous cooked with lemon zest and black pepper and wilted spinach with toasted walnuts.)
Serves four.
Serves four.
No comments:
Post a Comment