Chicken Piccata

Ingredients
3 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin and cut in half
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons butter, divided
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 TB water
2 TB brined capers, rinsed
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions
Season chicken with salt and pepper.
Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 1 tablespoons of butter with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 3 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate.

Melt 1 more tablespoon butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the remaining pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner.
Remove chicken to the plate.
Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock, capers, and 2 TB water.
Bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor.
Check for seasoning.
Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Remove chicken to platter.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously.
Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

Yummy served with rice pilaaf!

Chicken with Lemony Spinach and Mushrooms

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
olive oil
salt, pepper, dried dill

1 tsp. sugar
1 TB corn starch
2 tsps. lemon zest
3 TB fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup chicken broth

1 bag (9 ounces) spinach (or more if you really like fresh spinach)
8-10 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 TB capers

Sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and dill. Heat 2 TB olive oil in pan and brown chicken breasts on both sides. Cook just till barely done. Remove chicken to plate.

Add mushrooms to pan and cook till slightly browned. Add a small bit of water if needed to bring up browned bits from cooking chicken. Add spinach and cook, stirring often till wilted. A WHOLE pan of spinach will wilt down to almost nothing. Add broth/lemon juice mixture and cook till thickened and bubbly. Return breasts to pan and add capers. Allow to bubble, thicken slightly, and heat through.

1 serving = chicken breast and about 2/3 cup spinach/mushroom mixture.

I served this with a wild rice/bulghar pilaaf.

Very yummy and HEALTHY! Low fat too!

Creamy Lemon Shrimp (or chicken!)

A light creamy lemony sauce mingles with jumbo shrimp and fresh veggies of your choice ( I use asparagus and mushrooms). Serve over your favorite pasta, or alongside rice pilaaf. Good with chicken too.

1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled (I like the jumbo ones.... about 6 pieces per person) or 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces.
1 TB olive oil
1 TB butter
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 cups asparagus spear pieces
1 clove minced garlic
zest of 1 lemon
14 oz. marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

2 cans cream of celery soup
juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Cook favorite pasta and set aside. (Try bow tie, fettucini, or angel hair)

Melt butter and olive oil in large non stick pan. Add peeled shrimp to pan along with the mushrooms, the asparagus, the garlic, and the lemon zest. Stir fry 5-7 minutes or until shrimp is firm and pink and veggies are crisp-tender. If you are using chicken, cook the chicken 2-3 minutes, then add veggies, garlic, and lemon zest. Cook till chicken is cooked through and veggies are crisp tender.

In a separate bowl or measuring cup, mix the cans of soup, the milk, the dry mustard, and the lemon juice.

Add to shrimp (or chicken) and veggie mixture. Stir in artichoke hearts and heat through.
Serve over pasta.
Serves 6-8

* I'd love your feedback if you try it!*
Weight Watchers points looks to be about 12 depending on how much of this you use as a serving.

As promised, here is the Greek Chicken recipe!

Greek Chicken
A Rachael Ray recipe

I like this recipe because it is a good dish to fix for company or a crowd. I love the creamy texture and taste of the feta with the bite and strength of the kalamata olives and pepperoncini.
Let me know what your favorite thing is about it!

4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
2 lemons
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 sprigs fresh oregano, finely chopped
4-6 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 2 pounds jumbo shrimp
salt and coarse black pepper
1/2 pound orzo pasta
1 red onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 pound feta, crumbled
3 TB banana pepper rings, chopped (pepperoncini)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for orzo pasta.
Crush 2 cloves of garlic and place in shallow dish with about 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 thinly sliced sliced lemon, red pepper flakes, oregano, chicken or shrimp. Season with salt and pepper, then toss to combine. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. When meat or shrimp has marinated for 10 minutes, (up to 30 minutes is OK), and pan is screaming hot, add chicken or shrimp and lemons. Cook chicken 10-12 minutes, turning occasionally or cook shrimp 6-8 minutes or until pink and firm, tossing with tongs frequently. When you add chicken to pan, drop orzo in boiling water and start vegetables, see below. If you're cooking shrimp, start orzo then start vegetables and then throw shrimp in hot pan.
Meanwhile, heat a second skillet with 2 TB olive oil, over medium high heat. Add red onions and bell peppers and season with salt and pepper, cook 5 minutes. Add 2 cloves chopped garlic and toss a minute, then add olive and tomatoes to the pan and cook a couple of minutes more. Drain orzo and toss in serving dish with vegetables, parsley, feta, and pepperoncini. Place chicken atop, squeeze with juice of lemon if desired, and serve.