Tuscan Chicken with Lemon Parsley Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus

Y’all, please take a moment to assess your kitchen pantry.  Do you have fresh herbs (or dried), garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, lemons, and white wine in the house? How about paprika? I promise that if you keep these around, your veggies, chicken, and pasta dishes will be instantly upgraded when you’re looking for something that tastes like you ordered it off of a menu. 

This Tuscan Chicken dish is kid and hubby approved. It pairs so nicely with a side of  crispy lemon parsley potatoes and simple roasted asparagus. Don’t like asparagus? Roasted cauliflower, broccoli, or spinach would all be good choices. Serve this dish with love, for yourself and your loved ones.

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Tuscan Chicken (serves 2-3 adults with leftovers the next day, or 2 adults and 4 small children and lunch for 1 the next day…maybe😊)

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts – halved and pounded to 1/4 inch thick
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt/pepper (to taste)
• Onion powder
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped and peeled
• 1/4 cup chopped Vidalia onion
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup chopped basil (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1/4 cup fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
• 1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika
• 1/4 cup smoked of regular julienne cut sun dried tomatoes
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach
• Fresh grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Recipe:

1. Coat boneless skinless chicken breasts, that have been halved, with a little bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt, black pepper, and onion powder (Tip: I don’t put exact measurements in for these seasonings as the necessary amount will vary by your taste-buds. I like to sprinkle my dried seasons at eye level so that I can see how much is falling).
2. Put a little olive oil into a pan and sear the chicken breasts on medium until browned on both sides. Remove from pan.
3. Saute chopped garlic and onions until they become translucent and slightly browned. Deglaze your pan with a little white wine (about 1/2 cup). Add in about 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1/4 cup heavy cream and a splash of soy sauce. Bring to a simmer.
4. Throw in the basil and oregano. Add in the sun dried tomatoes and spinach. Stirring until spinach is wilted. Sprinkle with paprika and season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add chicken back in and cook for about 7 more minutes or so on medium-low until juices run clear when the chicken is cut a bit (to check for doneness). Plate the chicken with the sauce (extra sauce if you’re serving it with the potatoes, or crusty bread!). Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

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Lemon Parsley Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 5-6 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Juice of half a lemon
• Small handful (a little less than 1/4 cup) chopped parsley leaves

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Add potatoes to a large cast iron skillet (if you do not have one, that’s okay. You can line a baking sheet with aluminum foil). Drizzle potatoes with olive oil and use your hands or a spoon to coat each side of the potatoes with the oil.
3. Sprinkle potatoes with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder (use as much or as little of each as you’d like! Just remember that you can always add seasoning once food is cooked, but it’s very hard to take it back out once added 😉). Use your hands or the spoon to ensure that each side of the potatoes is seasoned.
4. Roast potatoes in the oven for about 35-40 minutes, flipping the potatoes around the 20-minute mark to ensure each side gets brown and crispy.
5. After 40 minutes, remove pan from oven and squeeze on the fresh lemon juice and sprinkle the potatoes with the parsley. Use a spoon to ensure each side of the potatoes is seasoned.
6. Turn the oven off.  After 10 minutes of cooling, return potatoes back to oven until ready to serve.

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Simple Roasted Asparagus

Ingredients:

• 1-2 bunches fresh asparagus, washed, dried, and woody ends removed (tip: to figure out where the woody ends actually stop on the asparagus bundles, take one and use both hands to gently snap off the end. Generally speaking, wherever the break is, is where you’ll find the woody ends. You can then use the top portion of this asparagus to measure where you need to cut the others.)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and pepper

Recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 400°
2. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the asparagus on the baking sheet and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil, using your hands to coat each side of the asparagus.
3. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste
4. Place asparagus in oven and roast for about 20 minutes, or until browned to your liking, using tongs for a large cooking spoon to flip asparagus around the 10-minute mark. Enjoy!