I gained 5 pounds during our weeklong cruise to Hawaii. It could have been worse, but I managed to avoid desserts, otherwise it would have been 10 pounds. On a cruise ship, every time you turn around they’re trying to feed you something and they are usually successful. And now Thanksgiving and the holidays are here. I’ll soon look like “Fat Bastard” in the Austin Powers movie if I don’t get back to chicken and fish.
I was in Food Lion this week to buy Thanksgiving pie-makings for Nancy and saw a package of chicken tenderloins they had marked down to $3. I love deals like this, so I bought it and decided to do a Chicken Picatta. Chicken Picatta is a tasty dish that is diet friendly – if you keep the heavy cream out. I did, it was good and I dropped a pound and a half the next day.
Here’s how I do an “Easy Chicken Picatta.”
First, buy the tenderloins and you won’t have to pound the chicken breasts to flatten them out. That’s a big step saver right there.
Next, use House Autry Breading for Chicken instead of plain flour. The breading adds a bunch of flavor without any effort. Mix a cup or so of House Autry with about a quarter cup of grated parmesan cheese. In a small bowl, put the breading, the parmesan and lots of salt and pepper. Next, dip each tenderloin in the breading mix, and then into a hot skillet with enough butter and olive oil to barely cover the bottom. Add butter and olive oil as necessary. Fry the chicken until golden brown on each side and keep warm until the chicken is done.
To the skillet drippings, add a ½ cup of chicken broth, a splash of dry white wine, another pat of butter, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 2 T. of capers. Reduce the mixture to about half, then spread evenly over the chicken tenderloins This goes great with pasta, but that defeats the purpose. Eat a salad instead. This recipe was very tasty and truly easy to put together. Four more weeks till Christmas! Hope my Santa Claus suit will still fit.
Easy Chicken Picatta (for 2)
1 lb. pkg. chicken tenderloins
1 C House Autry Chicken Breader
¼ C grated Parmesan
S & P to taste
2 or 3 T butter (as needed)
1 or 2 T olive oil (as needed)
½ C chicken broth
2 T dry white wine
2 T lemon juice
2 T capers