The Best Lemon Chicken

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It's Spring! The weather is turning warmer and our daffodils are about to bloom. Something about Spring makes me crave lemon. It's tart and refreshing! I haven't met a lemon dish I haven't enjoyed.

This lemon sauce is one of the sauces I make and freeze a few times each year. It's easy to make, but freezes really well, so I hardly ever just make this normal recipe- I usually double or quadruple it! A little goes a long way with the sauce too, so plan for about 1/3-1/2 cup for a family of 4-5. For the recipe below, you will need 1 decent sized lemon.

"Normal" lemon chicken recipes call for you to bread and fry the chicken, then serve the chicken over rice topped with the lemon sauce. However, this recipe originally came from my Mother-In-Law, who is always trying to eat healthy and this is how she serves it. Initially I thought it was a little odd, but now I'm hooked. So we saute the chicken, then break up some green leaf or romaine lettuce, put some quinoa or couscous on top of that {rice works too!} then top with the chicken and lemon sauce. I also got fancy here and sprinkled some sliced almonds and green onions over the dish. So pretty, so delicious, yet also healthy and easy too!

Lemon Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
4-6 cups lettuce, broken up into pieces
2 cups cooked rice, quinoa {what I used in the picture} or couscous

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup sugar { I always halve the sugar}
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2-3 TBSP grated lemon zest
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tsp vinegar
• 1 1/2 TBSP white cooking wine
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1 TBSP cornstarch, dissolved in
• 1 TBSP warm water

Heat about 1 TBSP oil in a nonstick skillet. Once the pan heats up, saute the chicken until cooked through. Set aside.

Scrub the lemon thoroughly since you'll be using the lemon zest in the sauce. Using a zester, grate the lemon peel into a small bowl. You'll need most of the peel get the 2-3 TBSP zest needed.

Once you've sufficiently grated the peel, slice the lemon in half and extract the juice using one of these cute little juicer tools. You can get both of these tools at the Dollar store if you don't have them already.

In a small saucepan, combine the broth, sugar, salt, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, wine and garlic. Bring to a boil. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch, whisking thoroughly. Heat for about 2-3 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

Serve over chicken bedded on lettuce and rice. Enjoy!