Lemon Chicken On The Go

The bus rolls in, the clock is ticking, and my boys are starving!  I'm not a big fan of them filling up on snacks so I would rather have a meal on the table.  You heard me, I feed my children their supper as soon as they get home from school, or at least begin preparing a meal as they are walking in.   I'm a planner in most things but not when it comes to daily meals.  I would say I'm kind of a magician when it come to quick, off the cuff meals.  I enjoy making up my recipes as I go.  Today, I got the whining and the gurgling bellies right off the bus and I had not yet had a meal going.  I knew organic chicken was on the menu, as I defrosted it the evening before.  I quickly began to preheat my oven, which, by the way, I broil just about everything (as everything will cook twice as fast) with the exception of baked goods.
Nonetheless, my adrenaline kicked in and I had to move quickly.  Any good cook knows that chicken breasts should be "thinned out."  I can take one breast and with a sharp knife, get three nice fillets out of it.  A much nicer consistency and when we are talking FAST, the fillets will cook in a pinch!  Another tip, I don't buy "fresh" vegetable sides (unless is comes from the local farmer) all that often, and here's why: Frozen broccoli, corn, etc are frozen immediately in the factory that processes it.  What does that mean to you?  If you can't buy from your local farmer, buy frozen.  By the time the so-called "fresh" produce arrives at its grocery store destination, it's been handles multiple times, exposed to many things and don't forget the time and temperature it took to get to the store via truck.  How can we forget that it still needs unpacking once it has arrived at the grocery store, and yet again, it is handled both by the produce worker and all of the customers who have fingered up the goods!  Frozen has its perks.  So on that note, I steam my frozen veggies in a pot or sauté them in a frying pan.  It only takes minutes.  A starch is just as simple, boil the water and drop it in...done in no time.

Here's how I dished out a meal in 15 minutes tonight.

Ingredients:

1 pack Organic Chicken breast

1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth/stock

1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper

2 tbsp parsley flakes

2 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 lemon squeezed

Directions:

In a chaffing dish place your chicken fillets, lining the bottom

Drizzle the chicken with extra virgin olive oil

Squeeze 1/2 a lemon, ensuring each fillet gets a hint of its flavor.

Sprinkle the chicken with Italian bread crumbs, salt, pepper, parsley flakes and garlic powder.

Allow to cook for 5 minutes in the extra virgin olive oil before adding the stock.
                  
Pour your available stock into the crevices or along side the chaffing dish, trying to avoid pouring it over the actual chicken and washing off the seasoning.  The stock will not only flavor the chicken, but also tenderize the meat, preventing it from drying out.

Allow the broth to come to boil for approximately 10 minutes, flipping the chicken as the bread crumbs begin to turn golden brown.  Turn the chicken fillets over one last time (breadcrumbs should be facing up).

I served my chicken over a bed of rice, adding extra juices from the pan.  I placed my steamed broccoli on the side, salt and peppered.  I then added a slice of lemon and fresh parsley sprigs for garnish.

Another suggestion which I really enjoy is to line the chaffing dish with cooked rice and placing the chicken, etc on top and cooking it that way.  Give it a try, it's quick and effortless.