Recipes

I have always had a little bit of a love, hate relationship with Chicken Piccata. I think it’s the capers. As a kid, I was on the “hate” side of our relationship, which was rare for me since I was the type of kid who would fight my Dad for the last sardine and almost cry when I had to order off the kids menu. Honestly, I would fight for the last sardine. That’s weird.

Then as I got a little older I began to love chicken piccata – the lemons, capers, and buttery sauce. Delicious. Until I started working at a restaurant that served chicken piccata and endlessly had to try to explain to people what capers were. This is a challenge for a fifteen year old. “Umm, green, salty pea type things” was my answer most of the time I think, and usually didn’t satisfy the customer.

But now, I am back on the bandwagon. I love the flavors of Chicken Piccata and surprisingly it wasn’t too hard to lighten up. If you use a little less butter and oil you can get almost the same flavors without all the fat and calories. I didn’t use white wine in my Chicken Piccata, but you could easily substitute 1/2 cup of white wine for 1/2 cup of the chicken broth. It makes a perfect, quick meal.

Weight Watchers Chicken Piccata
Points: 6 Weight Watchers Points plus
Servings: 4
Serving Size: 1 chicken breast with 2 tbsp sauce
Nutritional Info: 234.6 calories, 8.4g of fat, 13.9g carbohydrates, .4g dietary fiber, 25.2g of protein

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken cutlets, 4 pieces
• 1/2 cup flour plus 1 tsp
• 1 1/2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup diced shallots
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 tbsp capers
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp whole grain mustard

Instructions

1. Sprinkle the chicken cutlets on both sides with salt and pepper. Spread the flour out on a large plate and gently coat each chicken breast with flour. Set aside.
2. In a skillet or saute pan, melt 3/4 tbsp of butter over medium high heat. Add 1/2 tbsp olive oil and a touch of cooking spray if needed. Add the chicken breast and cook for 4 minutes on each side. Then set aside and tent with tinfoil to keep them warm. While the chicken is cooking, mix 1 tsp of flour into 1/4 cup of chicken stock and set aside.
3. Add the other 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, shallots, and garlic to the pan. Cook for two minutes until fragrant but not burnt.
4. Add 1/2 cup of chicken stock and scrape all of the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken broth almost evaporates.
5. Add the chicken broth you mixed with flour and stir until smooth. Then add the final 1/2 cup chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Let is reduce by half and then turn the burner to low.
6. Stir in the butter, capers, mustard, lemon juice, and parsley. Serve each chicken breast with 2 tbsp of piccata sauce.