Lemon-Thyme Chicken

This tangy but delicious marinaded chicken is awesome over brown rice or bulgur wheat (a new favorite addition to meals for me).  It only takes a few minutes to whip up the marinade and about a half an hour for it to sit and soak in the juices.  It's a dinner must in a hectic schedule! 

What you need...

4 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts

For the Marinade...

1/8 to 1/4  cup lemon juice (depending on how much lemon flavor you like - it can be pretty intense!)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp thyme 

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/4 minced garlic (or dried minced garlic)

2 tbsp half and half

1 tbsp milk (feel free to use 3 tbsp milk - I just had half and half on hand)

1 tsp flour

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

First...

Combine all of the ingredients for the marinade in a Tupperware container, add the chicken, and (after firmly closing the lid) shake it up!  After it's combined, stick the container in the fridge for about half an hour, turning it over (or shaking it up again) about half way through.

 *Right about now, while your chicken is marinading, you can start your brown rice (or bulgur wheat if you prefer) since it usually takes about 45 minutes.
Next...
After the chicken has marinaded, cook it in a frying pan (I sprayed the bottom with some canola oil first) until its mostly done.  Then, add in the marinade into the frying pan and cover with a lid.  This will help the chicken finish cooking while adding more flavor to it and keeping it moist!

Then...
Once your chicken is cooked thoroughly, take it out and place it somewhere to "rest".  I just used a plate and covered it with foil.

Now it's time to make the sauce!

With the liquid that's remaining in the pan, add the half and half, milk, and flour to a small cup and stir it up well.  Then add it to the mixture in the frying pan along with the cheese, and stir well.

I let my sauce simmer for about five minutes before I called it "done".  You may also want to taste-test it to see if you need more seasoning or more liquid to thin it out (water can work for that or more milk).

Finally...
Once your sauce is done and your rice is cooked, you are ready to eat!  I spooned my sauce over the rice and then added the chicken on top.  Feel free to garnish with a little bit more Parmesan cheese.

 

And that's that!  Simple, and yet super tasty!  As I cautioned before, the lemon is a really powerful flavor so make sure you don't over do it.  If you have a larger family, increase the recipe proportionally and it will work out great!  I served this with salad but a green veggie like asparagus or green beans would also compliment this well.  

Dessert idea...

If you're like me, you'll want something sweet after dinner.  I've recently been stalking this amazing blog called Chocolate-Covered Katie.  Her tag line is: "The healthy dessert blog" but I think it could be called: "The tasty dessert blog"!  Everything she has is vegan, healthy, and it tastes good!  As I make her recipe's, I'll try and share them with you because, seriously, this girl is a genius!

Tonight, I gave her "Cookie Dough Dip" a try and it was amazing!  You may be a tad surprised at the ingredients of the recipe but I promise you that it tastes great.  Personally, I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar for the sweetener (there were a few suggestions and I liked that the best) and it was definitely sweet enough (too sweet according to my roommie!).  Either way, if you like eating cookie dough,  you'll love this alternative recipe!  Go check it out :)