Thursday, October 6, 2011

OMG Chicken Piccata

If you read yesterday's post you know that I was attempting a lightened up chicken piccata for dinner last night.  I have made the dish before, so I knew the sauce would be delicious, but I wanted to try something new with the chicken trying to make the taste closer to the original which is pan fried.  It turned out very well...Rebecca and Daniel thought so too.  Here is my recipe, which serves 3.


Ema's Chicken Piccata

For the Chicken
  • 6 chicken tenders, pounded flat (about 12 ounces)
  • 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • 2 egg whites
  • garlic salt
  • lemon pepper
  • olive oil cooking spray or extra virgin olive oil sprayed from a misto
Preheat oven to 375.  Dip the chicken in the egg whites and then into the Italian bread crumbs to lightly coat.  Place on a non-stick foil lined pan.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and lemon pepper then spray lightly with olive oil, flip and repeat.  Bake for 10 - 15 minutes, flip the chicken over, then bake 10 - 15 more minutes.

For the Sauce
  • 1 cup of chicken stock (I used my homemade stock I talked about in this post)
  • 1 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
  • 1/4 cup capers, drained
  • 1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and rinsed
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp Smart Balance light spread
  • sea salt, to taste
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with hot water, for thickening
Combine the chicken stock and smart balance in a sauce pan on a medium heat.  While the smart balance is melting add the lemon juice.  Bring to a low simmer, add artichoke hearts, capers, garlic and parsley.  Add the wine and simmer.  Once the wine has reduced add the corn starch wash (usually you do not need the whole mixture, I used about half).  Allow dish to simmer on low and thicken.  Add sea salt to taste.

Happy simmering sauce
Great tip (that I learned from Rebecca)...I always keep a 4 pack of small wine bottles in my pantry (both in red and white). 


They are great for cooking and then you don't have to open a large bottle to use just a little bit.  Unless of course you are planning on drinking the rest of the bottle and then I vote that a large bottle is the way to go.  I used about half of the small bottle.

  
For the Pasta
  • 1/2 cup small pasta of your choice (I like to use Orzo a lot, but last night I used Acini di pepe, very similar in texture to Israeli couscous)
  • 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
  • sea salt to taste
I cook these small pastas like rice letting them simmer covered for about 15 minutes in a smaller amount of liquid until the liquid has reduced.

YUM!
Each serving is 1/3 cup pasta with two chicken tenders, covered in the sauce.  I calculated this to 12 weight watchers points...and it was delicious!  I served it with a side salad which was 1 point.


Oh, and I made a discovery yesterday.  As you might know I like to make mocktails, well I found this in the store last night.  Have you had it?

La Croix Cran-Raspberry
I had never seen it before!  And it was fabulous with diet cranberry juice and lime.  Love!

The pen color on this beautiful Thursday is lime green.


Enjoy your day!!

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