Lemon Pepper Butter Chicken Breasts

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Winter citrus such as lemons, oranges, and big juicy grapefruits are in abundance right now in the grocery stores.  I love citrus, and each week I go and buy a big bag full to use in various recipes.

Today we are using lemons.  I love lemons!  Especially as a sauce in my food such as Mediterranean Lemon Chicken or Apricot Lemon Chicken.  I even put it in my soup, Greek Style Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup.  The flavors just brighten everything.  Even salad dressing made with lemon and oil make the salads taste fresh and bright.  I can't get enough of them and when I have a bowl full I turn to an easy 30 minute chicken meal on a busy weeknight.

LEMON PEPPER BUTTER CHICKEN BREASTS

What makes this dish different than other lemon chicken dishes?  Well, for one it's cooked in butter.  Yes, I said butter.  Not to be confused with the wonderful Indian dish, Butter Chicken, this chicken is cooked in a fat, which is butter instead of oil.  This creates a golden brown chicken that is tender and moist.  Add some lemon juice to that, along with spiced up lemon pepper seasoning and you have one heck of a chicken dish that is served with the brightest lemon sauce around!

You can have this on the table in 30 minutes so it screams weeknight meal! 

Add a side of rice, pasta, or a green vegetable and you are good to go.

Enjoy!

Lemon Pepper Butter Chicken Breasts

serves 4

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning

1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Tbls butter
1 lemon, sliced
2 Tbls lemon juice
Hot cooked rice (optional)


Place each chicken breast half between two pieces of plastic wrap.  Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with the lemon pepper.  In a pan combine the flour, and salt.   Dredge chicken in the flour mixture.

In a large skillet over medium heat add butter and allow to melt.  Add the chicken breasts to the butter and cook each side about 5 minutes until brown and no longer pink inside.  Remove chicken from skillet. Add lemon slices to skillet; cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned, turning once. Return the chicken to the skillet.  Add lemon juice over the chicken breasts. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until pan juices are slightly reduced.

Serve chicken and lemon slices over rice if desired.  

Greek Style Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup

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Nothing says comfort like a hearty bowl of chicken soup.

Winter is the time to use all the citrus you can.  Lemons are in abundance right now and they brighten up any dish.  So if you are a little under the weather, or just want hot comfort food on a cold day turn to my Greek Style Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup. 

This soup is full of hearty vegetables and tender chicken in a bright lemony broth.  This is sooooo comforting it will satisfy you any night of the week.  PLUS, it's easy to make!

GREEK STYLE LEMONY CHICKEN AND ORZO SOUP

If you have some leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken handy you can throw this soup together in about 30-45 minutes.  That's perfect for a weeknight meal!

I cooked the pasta separately and added it to the soup at the end so that it doesn't absorb all the broth.  I've found out the hard way that this tiny pasta can really drink up all your broth!  Also, the lemon and fresh parsley are added at the end as well for a bright and fresh finish.  To flavor the broth even more I added whole sprigs of rosemary and thyme.  Make sure that you watch them and take them out before the rosemary falls off from the stems.  (Another lesson learned on one of my previous soups!)  I just don't like the hard woody stems floating around in my broth. (I'm picky that way)

I used my multi-purpose pot to make the soup.  It's large enough to hold it all well and cooks evenly.  I love this pot and use it with many of my dishes.  You can find it here.

Serve this with my Simple Garlic Cheese Bread for a great side dish.  With the flavors of Parmesan and garlic these make great dippers for your soup. 

Kitchen Tip:  #1 The cooked orzo is added just before serving. If added to the soup earlier, it will absorb too much of the broth and become mushy.
#2 Only keep the sprigs of rosemary and thyme in the simmering broth for about 10 minutes and then remove before they separate from their stems.


Enjoy!




Greek Style Lemony Chicken and Orzo Soup

serves 6

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrots, sliced or diced
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
4 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup dry orzo pasta
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cubed
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
salt and black pepper to taste

In a large pot over medium heat sweat your onions, celery, carrots and garlic until softened, about 10 minutes.

Add broth, water, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary sprigs.  Increase heat to high and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer about 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water according to the package directions.  Drain and set aside.

Add in chicken and orzo.  Simmer until chicken is heated through.  About 10 minutes.  Add parsley, zest and lemon juice right before serving.  Season with salt and pepper as well.

Mediterranean Chicken Salad

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I get the pleasure of working from home a couple of days during the week, which allows me to play around with different dishes for lunch.

The other day we were at Panera for a quick lunch and I was so tempted to have their Chicken Salad Sandwich, which I just love.  I got a hold of myself an opted for something a little healthier, ending up with a half a turkey sandwich and soup.  But....let me tell you that chicken salad was still calling my name.

Up comes my work from home day, and with the chicken salad still on my mind I decided to make a healthier version, without all the mayo.  The previous night I had roasted 5 chicken breasts using this recipe here.  My intention was for us to eat two that night with mashed potatoes and veggies and then use the remaining one in various dishes.  I just love roasted chicken, and this recipe is simple...but it the BEST.

Mediterranean Chicken Salad

So, using some of the roasted chicken I whipped up a Mediterranean Chicken Salad (without mayo) and served it over romaine lettuce.  It's filled with wonderful ingredients (mostly pantry items) such as artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, herbs, and is drizzled with olive oil and lemon.  Heaven! 

The zip of the lemon, tang of the artichoke, along with the chicken, and earthy roasted red peppers give this dish such a balance.  If you like olives, throw them in there too!  They would enhance this dish nicely.  This isn't a sweet chicken salad, but a few golden raisins would be fabulous as well.

A quick and easy meal is yours within 15 minutes!

Enjoy!

Related Recipe:

Roasting 101: Chicken Breasts

Mediterranean Chicken Salad

serves 4

3/4 cup roasted chicken, chopped into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
1/3 cup roasted red pepper, chopped (from a jar)
3 Tbls fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbls fresh basil, chopped 
3 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

4 large Romaine lettuce leaves

To a medium bowl add all ingredients.  Stir to combine.  Serve over lettuce and serve. 

Note:  Chicken salad may be kept in the refrigerator until serving.  Any remaining will keep in a covered container for several days.

One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice

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I'm also on the lookout for good weeknight meals, but I haven't really jumped on the "One Pot" bandwagon yet.  Have you? I've made a couple such as my Chicken and Asparagus dish, and One Pot Pasta.  

I've pinned a lot of them though. So today I thought I'd use up some chicken from the frig and make one of these recipes I've pinned so many moons ago!  #PinterestIsAddicting

The One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice recipe comes from Tiffany over at Crème de la Crumb.  She's a wiz in the kitchen and has so many great recipes on her site, so make sure to check it out.  I basically followed her recipe with a little addition of some extra spice on the chicken itself. 

One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice to the rescue!

Where have these quick 30 minutes meals, made in one pot, been all my life?  One pot?  Yes please.  Easy on the clean up and it takes just a tiny bit of prep and you have a tasty dinner on the table in 30 minutes.

Do you love lemon?  Love chicken and rice?  Need a quick weeknight meal?  Then One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice is the dish for you.  The flavors are bright with lemon and spiced with pepper.  The Italian seasoning lends that fresh herbaceous pop we love, and the rice is just comfort city.  This might be you new comfort food dish for the upcoming fall season.

Enjoy!



One Pot Lemon Herb Chicken and Rice

serves 4

time:  30 minutes

4 thin sliced, chicken breasts, boneless skinless
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 tsp salt
3 teaspoons Italian seasoning, divided
2 teaspoons lemon pepper
1 cup uncooked basmati rice
2¼ cups chicken broth, low sodium
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon


Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet.  Season chicken with salt, Italian seasoning. and lemon pepper on both sides.  Place chicken in the skillet and cook 2 minutes, until just browned, on each side.  Remove to a plate.

Add the rice to the skillet and toast for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning.  Bring rice to a boil.  Return the chicken to the skillet, placing it on top of the rice.  Add any juices that have accumulated from the chicken as well.  Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender.  

Garnish with fresh parsley and lemon slices.  Serve.

slightly adapted from Crème de la Crumb

Workout Night Dinners: Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad

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Weeknight dinners are a popular subject.  You come home late, your tired, and you still have to cook?  You want dinners that are on the table fast, everyone likes, and will satisfy your hunger. 

MGG and I have found a sub-set of that "weeknight dinner"  that we call WORKOUT NIGHTS. We have a workout regimen 2-3 nights a week in which we rush home from work and get ready for a vigorous aerobic workout.  Then comes dinner...

I'll tell you, after a workout I'm not all that hungry for at least an hour, plus I'm tired as a dog chasing butterflies all afternoon!  So dinner on those days?  Well lets just say they need to be really light, but recharge us and our sore muscles.  SALAD TO THE RESCUE.   Add a little protein to the mix and we are refueled in a healthy way.  Ready to pass out to face another day! 

In comes my "to make" list of goodies from Pinterest.  I found that Karina from Café Delites really knows how to do protein and salads.  This week I decided to make my version of her Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad (barely tweaking it)  HOLY COW!  I think that this marinade/dressing has to be the best one EVER.  I love it so much that I'm making this my go to marinade for everything grilled, baked, or pan fried.  It's that good.

To make this salad work for us on Workout Nights, I did some of the prep work while I was waiting for MGG to get home.  I made the marinade and prepped the veggies with the exception of the avocado.  As the chicken is grilled I used the grill pre-heating time to marinate the chicken for 15 minutes while it came to room temperature.  This worked out perfect and was so flavorful that it really didn't need much more time. 

About an hour after our workout MGG lit the grill outside and I threw the chicken in the marinade.  15 minutes later he threw the chicken on the barbie and I decorated the salad platter and sliced the avocado.  Chicken done, rested, and sliced and dinner was served!

The best part of all that?  The flavors of this salad were outstanding.  Seriously outstanding.  You need to make this now.  It is a great 30 minute meal, the perfect salad, and weeknights never tasted so good!

WORKOUT NIGHT DINNER ACCOMPLISHED!

Kitchen Note:  Lemon juice (acid) will cook your protein as it sits in the marinade.  For chicken it should not be left on more than a couple of hours or it will break down the protein too much and affect the texture of the chicken.  Beef and pork can be left in the marinade up to about 4 hours as they take longer to break down.






Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad

adapted slightly from Café Delites

serves 4

Marinade:
2 tablespoons olive oil

juice of 1 lemon (1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
cracked pepper, to taste

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, slice in half to make thin cutlets

4 cups lettuce leaves, washed and dried ( I used Lafayette mix)
1 large English cucumber, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, sliced
1 avocado, sliced

Whisk together all of the marinade/dressing ingredients in a large jug. Pour out half of the marinade into a re-sealable storage bag.  Refrigerate the remaining marinade to use as the dressing later.

Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat (or you can use and indoor grill pan).  Add the chicken to the marinade in the bag and allow to sit while coming to room temperature on the counter 15 minutes (or up to two hours in the refrigerator).

Prepare all of the salad ingredients and add to a large bowl or serving platter.  

Grill chicken on both sides until browned and completely cooked through. thin sliced chicken about 4-5 minutes on the first side and about 3-4 on the other side or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees. 

Allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes; slice and arrange in the salad. Drizzle the entire salad with the remaining dressing. Serve with lemon wedges if you like.

Summer Dessert Heaven: Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream

Yum

Yay for summertime!

I love summer.  Eating alfresco, cooking on the grill, and hanging by the pool.

We had a nice bash over the weekend with some friends we hadn't seen in forever...and we took that time to fire up the grill for some fresh food.  Even dessert was finished up using the grill!

So let's talk about this dessert.  Do you like lemon?  MGG loves it, it was my mom's favorite as well, and I like it mainly in baked goods such as muffins and cakes.  Pies? not so much.  In planning my menu I was sifting through an old Cook's Country magazine and had dog-eared a recipe for Meyer Lemon Pound Cake.  Say what? Lemon pound cake...ummm yes please!

Now, I know it's summer, and it's taboo to turn on the oven  but this was a serious situation here.  I had to have this pound cake.  So I got up really early and used the oven before the day got hot.  Success!!!  This cake was so easy to make. I even snuck some of the batter, so I knew it would taste outrageous.  And it did!  Everyone said so....haha!

Typically during the summer, our desserts run toward angel food cakes, trifles, pudding of some sort etc.  You know, throw it together quick and easy stuff.  So the pound cake did require more time than we usually put into our desserts but it was well worth it.  You could just as easily buy a ready made pound cake (it may not be lemon) and it would work just as well, but you really should try this lemony one.  The flavors of lemon and strawberry together are heaven.  So worth the effort.

Once the cake is made the rest is easy.  After the dinner grilling was done I grilled slices of this luscious lemon pound cake and plated them with macerated strawberries and a big ole scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Oh man, was this gobbled down by everyone.  Our long lost friends may not be so lost after eating this.  I'll bet we see them often this summer just to get more of this Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream!

Enjoy!

Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with Slice Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream


Pound Cake
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest
1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 additional tablespoons
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten

Toppings: 

Macerated sliced strawberries

Vanilla Ice Cream

To make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk the sour cream and lemon juice together in a small measuring cup.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the lemon zest and sugar. Rub together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter to the bowl and beat the butter/sugar mixture on medium speed until very pale and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the eggs in 3 additions, beating well after each addition until the mixture is smooth (stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary). With the mixer on low, alternately add the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the sour cream mixture in 2 additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Once all the ingredients have been added, scrape down the bowl then beat on low for another 30 seconds to fully combine.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top then tap the pan on your work surface to release air bubbles. Bake the cake for 55-65 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted near the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out.

Once the pound cake has completely cooled, (about 2 hours) slice it into 1 inch thick slices.  Add slices to an outdoor grill, or indoor grill pan and all to toast several minutes on each side until grill marks appear.  Top with strawberries that have macerated in sugar for about 15 minutes.  Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve immediately.

Pound cake was adapted from Cook’s Country, April/May 2006

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad

It's a summer of salads! Even though it's September and all the stores claim that it's fall already, it isn't here in Southern California.

Nope. It's 105, hot and humid. So I would say that still qualifies as summer, wouldn't you?

Even so, the stores still have a wonderful assortment of late summer vegetables that need to be put to good use.  So why not make a salad with some juicy summer tomatoes and some fresh herbs?  

I've been glancing through my Ina Garten cookbooks lately and picked up one titled "Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?".  She has the most perfect recipes that just always, always work. The flavors pop and I've never had a dish I didn't like from Ina. Don't you just love her?  So anyway, I found a wonderful salad she called "Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad" which was right up my alley.  I love the combination of tomatoes, cucumber, mint, garbanzo beans, feta etc....all wrapped up in a lemon vinaigrette.   This was what I decided to make and I'm sooooo glad I did!

This was fabulous.  Crunchy, sweet, salty, and tart all rolled into one dish.  Plus, this was really easy to make.  Great as a side dish with some grilled chicken, or as a lunch main dish. It holds up well so the leftovers are just as delicious.  A real winner!

Here's her recipe below.  

You can't beat a salad, in the summer, or any other time.

Enjoy!

Middle Eastern Vegetable Salad


(Serves 4 to 6)
adapted from Ina Garten's : Copyright 2010, Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?

1 pound ripe tomatoes, seeded, cored, and ½-inch-diced 
1 hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded, and ½-inch-diced 
1 can or jar (12 to 16 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves 1/3 cup julienned fresh basil leaves 
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 lemons) 
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves) 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
½ cup good olive oil 
8 ounces good feta cheese, ½-inch-diced 

Place the scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, parsley, mint, and basil in a large salad bowl and toss to combine. 

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Slowly whisk in the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the dressing over the salad, tossing gently to coat all the vegetables. Add the feta, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and toss gently. 

Lemon Blueberry Crescent Rolls

We're on our way out to the beach!  I love the beach but I don't get there as often as I'd like.  So today is special.  It's a beautiful day, very hot, but the cool ocean breezes and the sandy beaches are waiting for us.  

We have a lot of beaches to choose from around us such as Zuma Beach, Malibu Beach, and Santa Monica Beach to name a few.  Our favorite has become Will Rogers State Beach.  It's a wonderful spot that isn't very wide so we don't have to truck all our stuff far from the car in the 'hot' sand. It's quiet and the water is always sparkling.  The perfect spot to watch dolphins playing, which we had the pleasure of seeing quite often. 

We'll pack a light lunch and some fruit to snack on, but before that I'm making a quick breakfast.  

I mean really quick!  This isn't even a recipe.  Just something I threw together with pantry staples.  I always keep crescent rolls on hand because you can make so many things with them.  For the filling I always have berries on hand in the summer.  I chose some plump blueberries, which I adore hot blueberries.  They are bursting with flavor.  What goes good with blueberries? Lemon curd.  Done! You have your filling.    

This is to be a simple breakfast, so help from convenience items such as jarred lemon curd and crescent rolls is perfectly ok.  And....they are delishhhh!

So we're off to the beach now.  We (MGG actually) ate all the Lemon Blueberry Crescent Rolls with the exception of two that I hid for a late night snack!  He didn't notice....I think. 

Have a great weekend and try these quick breakfast treats. You'll love them!

Lemon Blueberry Crescent Rolls

makes 8

1 can of refrigerated crescent rolls (I used Pillsbury)
4 T of jarred lemon cured (more or less as you desire)
1/2 pint of fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Unroll crescent rolls and separate each triangle.  Brush lemon curd over each triangle.  You can use more or less to your taste.  Drop 3-4 blueberries on each of the triangles closer to the wide end.  Roll up starting from the wide end and creating a crescent roll.

Place on a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Bake 8-10 minutes until golden brown.  Serve.

Lemon Pasta Salad with Arugula

I might be repeating myself but oh well.... I LOVE SALADS!

You may or may not know that on Sundays, you can usually find me in the kitchen making up some sort of salad that we can eat several times during the week. They are great as a side dish with dinner, or to take for lunch, or just for snacking!   I've made several with grains such as quinoa, faro, barley and others, but this week I turned to pasta.

The weather is warm...I'm craving pasta salad.

Something fresh and light.

This salad will knock your socks off.!  It's full of fresh flavors (lemon) and peppery bites (arugula) that make this pop in your mouth.

You know, this would be perfect for all those summer picnics, concerts in the park...or ....oh! how a Memorial Day?  This would be PERFECT for your Memorial Day cookout.

If you are not into pasta salad so much, here are some other great side dish/salads to choose from.

Veggie Gyro Salad

Asparagus Tabbouleh with Prosciutto

Artichoke and White Bean Salad

Seven-Grain Salad with Roasted Pepper, Feta, and a Mustard Dressing

Creamy Ranch Slaw



Lemon Pasta Salad with Arugula

Serves 6

8 oz tri-color rotini pasta
4 oz boccoini  mozzarella,  quartered
1 pt cherry tomatoes,  halved
2 cups baby arugula

Lemon Vinaigrette:
zest of 1 lemon
2 T fresh lemon juice - 1 lemon
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 t white wine vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper

Cook pasta according to the package directions in a pot of boiling, salted water.  Drain (Do not rinse).

Meanwhile quarter your boccoini and halve your cherry tomatoes.  Place in a large bowl.  Add your cooked pasta, and stir in the arugula.

For vinaigrette combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir with a whisk until combined.  Add to the pasta salad mix and toss gently to coat all pieces.  Chill for about 1 hour to combine flavors.  Serve cold or at room temperature.

Mediterranean Lemon Chicken

It's been a busy week.

A new branch of my favorite grocery store decided to close it's doors this week.  It's so sad to see such a beautiful store, fully stocked...always...have to close it's doors due to lack of patrons.  This place was never, never crowded.  With 8 checking lanes only 1 was open every time I went with little to no wait in line.

Amazing.  Where do all the people that live in that neighborhood shop?  They must being going to local ethnic stores, or outside their area to another chain grocery store.

So last Wednesday the store advertised 50% off of everything....I mean everything...in the store.  OMG...I've stopped by to pick up a few items before the store closed this week and couldn't find a place to park!  Wondering what was going on I spotted the 50% off sign.  NOW the people come.

So there must have been about 200 people in the store shopping.  All the wine, pasta,candy, canned goods etc...the items were endless (and so was the check out line).  Not wanting to fill my house with random items that I have no place to store, I browsed through the items and chose big ticket items I would get the most bang for my buck.  I got Parmesan cheese wedges I can freeze.  Expensive balsamic, sherry, and champagne vinegars.  Various oils such as walnut and hazelnut.  All at 50% off!  I found some specialty gourmet spices such as saffron to add to my cart.  I hit the jackpot!

I can't wait to cook with my new items....but today is not the day.  I spent 45 min in line to check out (I kept saying "is this worth it?")  But what the heck.   I stood there, laughed with the other people in line to pass the time, watching others keep leaving their cart to run and get one more thing!  

So I'm home around 7 pm and I'm tired.  Time for dinner and I want comfort food.  This Mediterranean Lemon Chicken it just what I'm craving.  Easy to make with either chicken tenders or chicken breasts cut into long strips.  A few veggies, some lemon which makes a great sauce, all served over some Basmati rice.  Don't you love the flavor of Basmati rice? This meal will take you to a comfort zone you won't want to leave.

Enjoy!




Mediterranean Lemon Chicken

serves 4

2 T butter
1 lb chicken tenderloins
1 8 oz pkg sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 T flour
1 14.5 oz can low sodium chicken broth
1 t lemon zest
2 T lemon juice
1 t fresh thyme, chopped
salt & pepper
cooked Basmati rice

In a large skillet melt butter over medium heat.  Add chicken and cook 4 minutes.  Add mushrooms and bell pepper and cook an additional 5 minutes or until chicken is done and vegetables are tender.  Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute.  Add broth, zest, juice, and thyme.  Cook about 4 minutes until thick and bubbly. Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Sever over rice.