Back to Basics 6 - Chicken Piccata with Mushrooms and Angel Hair Pasta

This delicious and creamy meal is going to satisfy ANY cravings you have (except for chocolate). You get a briny and creamy sauce with mushrooms, capers and parsley, starchy nutty pasta, and a crispy chicken breast. I mean, look at it! It's beautiful!! This recipe was tweaked slightly from Eating Well.

Ingredients

-6 ounces whole wheat angel hair pasta (or spaghetti)

-1/3 cup all-purpose flour

-2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

-2 chicken breasts (butterflied), making 4 cutlets by FULLY cutting it in half.

-3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
-1 package of 10 or 8 ounce mushrooms, sliced
-3 large garlic cloves, minced
-1/2 cup white wine
-2 tablespoons lemon juice
-1/4 cup parsley, chopped
-2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
-2 teaspoons butter
-Salt & pepper to taste

Directions
First of, get all your ingredients together. I buy mushrooms whole and then slice them, cheaper that way!
Bring a large pot of water, salted, to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions.
While the pasta is going, whisk 5 teaspoons from that 1/3 cup in a measuring cup filled with 2 cups of chicken broth.

Put the rest of the flour in a shallow dish, season with some salt and pepper. You can also add some dried herbs if you like, but don't go nuts!

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a big skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken breasts in the flour and make sure it's all coated, that's called dredging. Add chicken to the skillet and cook until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm while you make the sauce.

Heat the last teaspoon of oil in the skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until brown, constantly stirring, this will take about 5 minutes. Transfer to a separate plate than the chicken. Add your minced garlic and wine to the pan. If you don't have wine you can use white wine vinegar (1/2 the amount). If you don't have that, skip it all together. No big deal! Reduce the wine by half, 1-2 minutes.Stir your chicken broth mix (make sure it's well stirred before you throw it in there), lemon juice and a little bit of salt and pepper. Bring it to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce has thickened up. That should take about 5 minutes.

Throw in your capers, butter, mushrooms and parsley. Measure about 1/2 cup of sauce in a separate cup. Throw your pasta in the sauce and make sure it's all mixed. To serve, place the pasta on the dish, the chicken on top of the pasta and the previously measured out sauce on top of the chicken.

I made a caprese salad to go with this, it was inspired by Ina Garten. I roasted some cherry tomatoes in the oven with salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a tiiiny bit of sugar. 275 for about half an hour. Cut some fresh mozzarella and basil, season THAT with salt and pepper, then throw in your tomatoes. AMAZING!

4 servings

397 calories (not counting salad)