Chicken for dinner again? Yes, but this is no ordinary chicken dish. This is a “restaurant-style” dish. It involves gremolata which is actually quite simple to make but the taste is out of this world. Gremolata is basically an Italian condiment made up of garlic, parsley and lemon zest. It is divine and you will wonder why you’ve never made it before. There are so many dishes I have bookmarked that involve gremolata. Let me share a few with you:
- Asparagus with Gremolata from Rachael Ray
- Fontina Crostini with Lemon Gremolata from A Spoonful of Thyme
- Osso Buco with Citrus Gremolata from Food & Wine
- Beef Stew with Gremolata from Everybody Likes Sandwiches
Now, back to the chicken. Believe it or not, this is a fairly healthy dish. Gremolata packs an intense flavor punch without having to load up on salt. Plus lemon juice always brightens a dish up. You’ll even get a serving or two of your daily vegetables needed by eating this. It’s so tasty that you won’t think you’re missing anything! You should feel better knowing that this “restaurant-style” meal isn’t consuming all of your calories for the day. The hubby and I felt great eating this for dinner. I guess that explains why there were no leftovers!
Chicken Gremolata over Lemony Swiss Chard and Leeks
(adapted from Jill Mant at Honest Cooking and Saucy Cooks)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb thin-cut chicken breasts (tutorial here)
- 8 cloves minced garlic, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 large or 2 small leeks, cut in half vertically and then sliced horizontally (tutorial here)
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 1 bunch Swiss Chard, stems removed, leaves torn into pieces
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Juice of 1 1/2 lemons (reserve other 1/2 lemon on the side)
Directions:
- Make the gremolata by combining half of the chopped garlic, parsley, breadcrumbs and lemon zest in a small bowl. Set aside for later.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the leeks and minced garlic. Cook for 3 minutes stirring often to ensure that the garlic does not burn. Add sliced mushrooms and cook an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the swiss chard to the skillet so it can start to wilt down. Stir to mix with the other vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste once it is fully wilted. Squeeze the lemon juice into the vegetable mixture and stir to combine.
- Keep your vegetable mixture on low while you cook the chicken. Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet that will hold all of your chicken or prepare to cook it in two batches. Cook the chicken until no longer pink inside, about 3-5 minutes on each side.
- Heat up the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil and the gremolata in a small frying pan to toast the breadcrumbs slightly. This should take about 3 minutes. You don’t want to burn anything so be sure to stir the mixture constantly.
- To plate your dish, spread some of the vegetable mixture on the bottom of a plate and place 2 chicken breasts on top of that. Top with a healthy dose of gremolata and serve with lemon wedges on the side. Serves 2-3.
Tutti Mangia!
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