Healthy Chicken Picata Recipe

Chicken is a staple for dieters looking to trim down and tone up.  But there is only so many nights we can grill chicken and serve it with steamed vegetables before we turn to pizza and pasta out of boredom.

So this week I took one of my favorite chicken dishes, chicken piccata and tweeked it into the most healthy version I could.

Chicken piccata is simple. A lemon and caper sauce over pan fried chicken.  And what better way to jazz up chicken then with lemon.   Lemons aid in keeping your immune system in top shape, help cleanse the liver, and are packed with vitamin C, citric acid and magnesium!

So throw on the apron, pull out the fancy plates and get ready to impress with my quick, easy, and healthy chicken piccata recipe.

What you will need:

INGREDIENTS
-chicken breasts (1 breast per person)
-whole wheat flour

-capers
-3 tbs lemon
-dry white wine
-low sodium fat free chicken stock
-garlic
-onions or shallots
-parsley
-olive oil
-sea salt
-pepper

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Pound chicken with mallet (or improvise like I did with the bottom of a frying pan) until 1/2 inch thick.

2. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tsp salt & 1 tsp black pepper (I added 1 tsp garlic powder too!).  Sprinkle evenly with whole wheat four and place on skillet with 1 tbs olive oil.

3. Cook chicken fully on med-high heat. Then remove from heat and keep covered and warm.

4. Add 2 tbs olive oil and 2 tsp finely chopped white onion or shallots and 3 finely chopped garlic cloves. Cook over med-high heat for 3 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. Add 1/3 cup white wine and 1/3 cup chicken stock cook until it boils.  Add 3 tbs whole wheat flour and stir into a thicker consistency.

6.  In a separate bowl combine 3 tsp lemon juice, 2 tsp drained capers, and 1 tbs whole wheat flour.

7.  Remove sauce from heat and add lemon juice mixture.  Stir well and add chicken breasts.

8.  Transfer each breast to a plate and cover with 3 tbs of sauce. Garnish with lemon round and fresh parsley.

I serve this meal with greens.  My favorite side dish is sauteed spinach with chopped mushrooms, onions, chopped garlic, olive oil and balsamic glaze.

See! Delicious can be quick, inexpensive and, best of all, HEALTHY!

xo,

Chelsea

(POST PUBLISHED ON WWW.CAREPILOT.COM OCTOBER 2013)