D-Feast Friday. My Go-To Chicken Recipe

I should warn you that when I make this it is without an actual recipe.  I am the kind of cook that doesn’t have a lot of patience for following recipes, at least where cooking is concerned.  With baking I’m more inclined to follow a recipe, albeit loosely.  But when I’m cooking supper I tend to go by feel and intuition.  (It makes for some pretty interesting gastronomic experiences, to say the least!)  So when I decided to share this “recipe” I realized I would have to actually break out the measuring cups and spoons and make some attempt to quantify the ingredients.  Splashes, glugs and dashes are just too subjective.

Really what I’m saying is please don’t get too hung up on exact measures with this recipe.  The measurements I site are merely guidelines.  And for goodness sake, don’t be afraid to substitute or omit something if it doesn’t agree with your palate.  Except for the chicken.  That’s kinda the backbone of the recipe.   AND the lemon!  You can’t omit something that is part of the title.  And maybe keep the capers.  They’re just too good to leave out.  OKAY!  So you can’t really omit anything.  Just try it.  I think you’ll like it.

Lemon Chicken with Capers


What you’ll need:

• 4 - 5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp butter
• 2 cups organic chicken broth
• 4 tbsp organic lemon juice
• 3 tbsp rinsed and drained capers

What to do:

Rinse and pat dry your chicken breast with paper towel.  Slice each chicken breast horizontally as shown in my nifty picture.

Arrange chicken on cutting board and season lightly with salt and pepper to taste on both sides.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add two tbsp of olive oil and half a tsp of butter into the skillet.  Dredge each seasoned chicken breast half in the flour and place into the hot skillet until skillet is full but not crowded.  You will likely have to do two batches.

Brown chicken 3-4 minutes on each side until golden then remove from skillet to a dish.  Add remaining two tbsp of olive oil and half tsp butter to skillet before browning second batch of chicken.  Remove second batch of chicken to dish.

Return skillet to heat and pour in chicken broth and organic lemon juice.  Bring broth and lemon juice to a boil and loosen browned bits from skillet with a whisk.   Allow to reduce for about 5-6 minutes before returning all browned chicken breasts to skillet.  Reduce heat to simmer.  Sprinkle capers over chicken as it simmers in skillet for an additional 5-6 minutes.

Serve with a white and wild rice blend cooked in chicken broth (instead of water) with a splash (sorry--a tablespoon or two) of lemon juice and some steamed vegetables.

Here I served it with a corn succotash because I had a few cobs left over from supper the night before.  But the plate would look really, REALLY pretty accompanied by Lorraine’s Broccoli-Craisin Salad!  I made that last week and it’s so darn tasty!

I don’t have any nutritional information for the chicken.  But I figure that one serving (1/2 breast) would have about 5 carbs if approximately 1 tablespoon of flour adhered to it during the dredging stage.

Enjoy!

The Premier of D-Feast Friday!

To kick off my participation in D-Feast Fridays, I am going with a meal idea that I’ve recently blogged about, mainly because it is something I’ve recently photographed.  It’s nothing difficult or extravagant, but what it lacks in sophistication it makes up for in visual appeal and healthfulness.  So here’s my first contribution to D-Feast Fridays!  Next week I’ll tackle something a little more involved.

Veggie Kabobs

Ingredients:
-An assortment of your choosing of various pretty, fresh vegetables like zucchini, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers (all colours), red onion, mushrooms, egg plant, etc.  Be brave.  Try different veggies!
-olive oil
-salt & pepper

Method:
Cube or slice your vegetables but not too small.  Cut your zucchini to about 3/4” thickness.  Cut your onion and break up the layers so that each piece is approximately 1 1/2 to 2” square.  Chunk your bell peppers to be relatively the same size as the onion.  Cube up your eggplant to about 1 1/2 to 2” cubes.  Of course, the mushrooms (provided they are button size) and cherry tomatoes need no slicing.  

Now comes the fun part.  I get my kids involved in this step.  They love it!  Start skewering your lovely chunked veggies on metal or pre-soaked bamboo skewers.  Mix 'em up.  Encourage your kids to create patterns!  Just leave an couple of inches at the end to avoid the veggies slipping off on the grill.  Then lay all your loaded skewers on a large cookie sheet.  Brush them with olive oil and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over them to taste.  I’ve even been known to go with Mrs. Dash or just my own blend of herbs and spices like garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, etc.

Preheat your grill and place your skewers on.  I find it takes no longer than about 6 to 8 minutes on the grill with a few turns to grill evenly.  You’ll find the tomatoes will crack open but as long as you are
gentle with them they should hold on to most of the juicy, sweet goodness inside.

I serve these over brown rice or you could even do a risotto!  You can keep it vegetarian or do up some chicken skewers to go with.

I don’t count any carbs for these beauties.  Only the accompanying starch is what I bolus Jenna for.