Lemon-Thyme Chicken

How is it Monday already? Weekends should really be three days long.

We ate so much all weekend - take-out after happy hour on Friday, a Bull's BBQ Shredded Pork Sandwich at the Phillies game on Saturday, and a day full of eating and drinking yesterday for Father's Day. So let's stay away from the carbs tonight, ok?

I picked up some boneless chicken breasts yesterday as well as some broccoli rabe. I came up with this quick and easy lemon thyme chicken for dinner tonight.

The Marinade

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Marinate chicken in the marinade for a few hours.

Cooking the chicken

• Remove chicken from the marinade and shake off any chunks of garlic or shallot.
• Mix flour with salt, pepper, and a touch of thyme.
• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat; preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Dredge chicken in flour, and add to the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side.
• Transfer chicken to the oven to finish cooking, about 8-10 minutes.

Optional - Sauce

• Once the chicken has finished cooking in the oven, remove it from the pan and keep warm.
• Heat the pan over medium heat
• Add 1/3 c white wine and scrape up all of the brown bits
• I didn't do this, but I will next time - add 1/2 c chicken broth and bring to a simmer.
• Season with salt and pepper, and dried parsley flakes if you want some color.
• Turn heat to low and whisk in about 1/4 c light cream.
• Serve sauce over the chicken.

I served the chicken with sauteed broccoli rabe.

This chicken was so juicy and full of flavor. The lemon was so bright and fresh, and paired nicely with the garlicky broccoli rabe. I loved it, and will make some chicken salad with the third breast that we didn't eat.

After dinner we enjoyed a glass of wine on the deck. These pics aren't related to cooking, but I had to share.

My hibiscus tree is finally looking healthier and has several of these beautiful and colorful flowers -

And how cute is our dog?? She loves to peek her head through the deck like this so she gets a bird's eye view of our yard - always have to be ready to chase that bunny that likes to visit us!!