Chicken Piccata

CHICKEN PICCATA

I got this recipe from a weight watcher magazine, and I couldn't believe how good it was!!

4 (6oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c. egg substitute

1 cup Italian-seasoned panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

1 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 Tbsp minced shallots

1/4 cup fat free, less-sodium chicken broth

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 Tbsp capers

2 tsp chophped fresh parsley, divided

Place chicken breast halves between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2 inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper evenly, dip in egg sub. ; and dredge in panko.

Heat 1 1/2 tsp oil in a large non-stick skillet over med-high heat. Add half of chicken; cook 3 min on each side or until done. remove chicken from pan; keep warm. repeat precedure with remaining oil and chicken. Add shallots to pan, saute 1 min or until tender. Add broth, lemon juice, and capers. Increase heat to high, and cook 1 min. stir in 1 tsp parsley. Spoon sauce evenly over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp parsley.

I served this with angel hair pasta and put some of the sauce on the noodles. Then I served broccoli as a side dish. My whole family enjoyed it (which is saying a lot!)

Baked Chicken with Dried Beef and Bacon

I had this at a friend's house as her "company meal". And as the way of most "company meals" it got my compliments and request for the recipe. So I thought I would share it with the rest of you...

8 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup of sour cream

4 oz jar dried beef

8 slices of bacon

Place 2 slices beef on each chicken breast. Wrap bacon around the meat to hold it together. Mix mushroom soup and sour cream together well and pour over chicken spreading evenly. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 300 degrees for 2.5 hours. (I don't think it hurts it to cook at a higher temp like 350 or 375 to cut back on some of the time.) Also note that this chicken is somewhat tinted pink from the bacon, so don't freak out about it being pink, make sure it is cooked all the way through however.

Taste Rating: 3.5

Difficulty Rating: 3 (not really hard to do, but timely on the cooking)

Great served with rice! Also another variation of this that I tried was instead of using dried beef I used a thin slice of deli ham, actually I prefer the ham over the dried beef, but that is just me, let me know what you like.

Sweet Catalina Chicken

I got this recipe from my aunt. Now I know you can do chicken and rice about 5000 different ways, so if you don't know of this one, you may want to add it to the list...

Sweet Catalina Chicken

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

Mix together:

1 small bottle catalina dressing

1 cup apricot or peach preserves

1 pkg dry onion soup mix

Pour over chicken in casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serve over rice.

Taste Rating: 4

Difficulty Rating: 2.5

Let me know what you think, or what your favorite chicken and rice dish is.

Chicken Pillows

OK so I got off to a slow start. This recipe I have had for a long time, I got it from my mother-in-law. I am making this my first official recipe because I have had about four people ask me for this recipe and I never got around to giving it to them...so here it is.

4 cups cooked chicken breasts, cubed (reserve broth)
8 oz cream cheese
4 green onions, chopped (this is optional, and I opt not to use them)
4 oz sliced, canned mushrooms, drained and chopped (I like them, Wayne doesn't)
1 pkg. crescent rolls (10 rolls)
1 cup corn flake crumbs or bread crumbs (I use plain bread crumbs)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 onion powder
1/2 c. melted butter
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Soften cream cheese. Add (onion, mushrooms), and chicken. Mix well. Melt butter and set aside.

Combine crumbs, garlic and onion powders in shallow dish. Press rolls flat and thin. Place 1/4 cup chicken mixture on each roll. Seal edges and shape into a pillow. Dip pillow in butter, then roll in crumbs.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Serve with cream of mushroom soup thinned with chicken broth.

Taste Rating: 4
Difficulty Rating: 3.5
see scale on side: This is a scrumpcious meal but I have two kids hanging off my legs and so this one takes a little more effort than I like to put forth, but I don't like to put forth any effort when it comes to cooking. So try it out and then give me your own ratings!

I know there are a lot of variations to the way people make this, so if you know of one please share. There is one listed on kevinandamanda.com, I have not tried it, but I have tried a lot of their stuff and everything I have had so far has been great.