Pinch of Yum is one my all-time favorite food blogs.
It was created by Lindsay, a former elementary school teacher, who spent years jumping between teaching and food blogging before she became a full-time blogger. Her husband Bjork handles the tech support portion of the blog, and together they’ve just created a really cool space. Between her beautiful photography and simple and beautiful recipes, her charity work, and her posts about her dog Sage, she’s pretty much who I want to be when I grow up. Plus, I’ve never tried one of her recipes that I didn’t love (her Southwest Quinoa Casserole is something I like to make once or twice a month)!
So when I stumbled across this Lemon Chicken with Asparagus dish I knew that it was right up my alley. The recipe called for minimal ingredients, the steps were simple, and I could have dinner on the table in 30 minutes. I ended up doubling the recipe so we’d have a few extra leftovers for the week.
Pound chicken breast (you could also used chicken cutlets and just cut down the cooking time), coat with salt, pepper, and flour, and saute for a few minutes with lemon pepper seasoning. Transfer to a plate and then cook chopped asparagus in the same pan, until bright green and tender. Remove from plate, then add the lemon slices to the pan and leave undisturbed for a few minutes to caramelize them. Note: the recipe suggested a honey butter sauce that I opted out of making and the sauteed lemon slices served more as a garnish (cooking the lemons this way will make them bitter).
I served it with roasted red potatoes for a complete meal and was way happy with the outcome. This will definitely be a dish that we’ll make again and again!
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- 1-2 cups chopped asparagus
- 2 lemons, sliced
- salt and pepper, to taste
- parsley, for garnish, optional
- Cover the chicken breasts with plastic wrap and pound until each pieces is about a ¾ of an inch thick. (NOTE: If your chicken breasts are really thick,you can just cut them in half horizontally to make thinner pieces rather than pounding. Works like a charm.) Place the flour and salt and pepper in a shallow dish and gently toss each chicken breast in the dish to coat. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat; add the chicken and saute for 3-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown, sprinkling each side with the lemon pepper directly in the pan. When the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, transfer to a plate.
- Add the chopped asparagus to the pan. Saute for a few minutes until bright green and tender crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside. Lay the lemon slices flat on the bottom of the pan and cook for a few minutes on each side without stirring so that they caramelize and pick up the browned bits left in the pan from the chicken and butter. (NOTE: adding a tiny pat of butter in with the lemons also helps prevent sticking and promote browning.) Remove the lemons from the pan and set aside.
- Layer all the ingredients back into the skillet - asparagus, chicken, and lemon slices on top.
- The lemons are going to be bitter, especially if you really let them caramelize like in the first picture in this post. With that in mind, you can use them just as a garnish (pretty!), or you can eat them if you like bitter things, or you can try to make them less bitter by boiling them for a few minutes before adding to the pan. I opted for the garnish.
This is so gorgeous!
Thank you, friend!!
This looks so bright and full of flavor Jasmine!! And I check in on Pinch of Yum often– have made several of her recipes. and your photos here are stunning– so inviting! Enjoying all your posts– thanks!!!
Thank you for the kind words, Rhonda! I hope you guys have a wonderful Fourth of July!
Saw this @ fiesta Friday! Now I know what’s for dinner! Thanks!
Michelle
Awesome!!! Thank you for stopping by, Michelle!! 🙂
Looks delicious.
Thank you, Tracey!!
mmm. . . This looks delicious.
Thank you, Sheryl!!
This looks so good Jasmine! Thanks for telling us about this blogger too!
Thanks, Lynn! She’s incredible!
I will go check her out!
This looks so yummy! When I saw the title, I recognized Pinch of Yum from a previous posting of yours… I consider your rave high praise, and I’ll have to check her out!
You won’t regret it! Anything from her website has always been delicious. And she’s pretty good about listing the nutrition breakdown and making healthy dishes which I know is right up your alley!