There are days that I forget to start dinner until it is just about time for my family to start complaining that they are hungry.  We all do it.  I have a month of meals planned to choose from so I usually have something I can make quickly.  Not the other night.  It was the end of the month and I needed to go grocery shopping for the next month.

I try to keep a 3 month supply of items in my pantry but twice a year I try to deplete my supplies and restock with fresh items just to make sure that I don’t have items on hand that will go to waste because I forget I have them.   I am just coming off a time of depleting our pantry.  Some of the different items that I try to always have on hand are chicken and beef stock, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato basil pesto, basil pesto and capers.  With these few things I can make a number of dishes with lots of flavor.

What to eat, what to eat….  Chicken Piccata!  I had everything on hand.  I love this dish.  It is simple and it looks and takes so elegant.  I try to have jar of capers and a bottle of lemon juice on hand at all times so I was ready for this.  Best part of all is that it could be ready in about 30 minutes!

Verdict:

This was an amazing dish!  The bright lemony flavor against the saltiness of the capers was delicious.   Both children loved the dish and had seconds.

I served this dish with rice pilaf, green salad and green beans.

For my mostly gluten-free son I made a small skillet of this just dredging his in the Pillsbury flour mixture mixed with the same spices as ours.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 – 2 lbs. chicken breasts cut into tenders
• flour
• Morton’s Nature’s Seasoning Mix
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup chicken stock or dry white wine
• 1/2 cup brined capers
• parsley and lemons for garnish

Directions:

1.  Mix flour and Morton’s Nature Seasonings together on a plate.  Make sure the flour is well seasoned. Coat chicken in flour.
2. In a large skillet melt 2 tbsps of butter with the olive oil, over medium high heat.
3. Add chicken to the skillet and cook for about 3 to 4 min per side until browned. When chicken is cooked through, remove chicken from skillet.  Place in oven to keep warm.
4. Remove skillet from heat. Add lemon juice, chicken stock or wine, capers and scrape up the brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Return skillet to heat and bring to a boil. Taste the sauce and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
5. Add remaining 2 tbsps of butter and whisk for about a minute. Sauce will thicken.
6. Add the chicken to skillet and cook for just a few minutes in the sauce.  Garnish with parsley and lemons if desired.