CHICKEN PICCATA WITH A SIDE SICILIAN SALAD

Piccata is an Italian word which means “to be pounded flat”. The culinary reference is the way it is prepared, usually with chicken, veal or fish. To compliment this chicken dish, I’ve included a simple recipe for a Sicilian style salad which contains green beans and potatoes.

Chicken Piccata Ingredients: 4 servings in 30 minutes

· 6 thinly sliced chicken breasts cut in half

· Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and turmeric (1 tsp)

· All-purpose flour or almond flour for dredging

· 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

· 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

· 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice – 2 lemons

· ½ cup of low-sodium chicken stock

· ¼ cup brined capers, rinsed

· 1/3 cup of fresh Italian flat parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 4 tablespoons of evoo and 2 tablespoons of butter. I like to add turmeric. When it starts to sizzle, add chicken and cook for 2 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 2 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate.

3. Add lemon juice to the pan, chicken stock, 1 tbsp of evoo, 1 tbsp of butter and capers. Bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor.

4. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 4 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of butter to sauce and some white wine (if desired) and whisk. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with chopped parsley and lemon slices. Add salt and pepper.

The nice part of this recipe is that you can prepare this in advance and when you are ready to serve it, you can do step #4 - simmer the chicken in the skillet and finish it off in the sauce, then plate.

Sicilian Salad Ingredients:

· 1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

· 1 freshly squeezed lemon

· Salt and pepper, fresh basil or oregano

· ½ small red onion, sliced

· 3 Yukon gold potatoes

· ½ lb of green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces

· ½ bulb of fennel (finocchio)

Directions:

1. Mix dressing in a shallow bowl – evoo, lemon juice, salt & pepper.

2. Boil potatoes in salted water until soft enough to eat. Cook the green beans separately in boiling water for about 1 minute, keeping green beans firm. Drain, then cut the beans and potatoes to desired size.

3. Cut tomatoes, fennel and red onion. Mix in oregano.

4. Toss all ingredients in a bowl with the dressing.

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