Lemon-Spinach Chicken

Sometimes, the easy classics are good to serve up for something quick and comforting. I dug this out of my archives of unposted photos and decided to share it with you today, because I lost the little blue thing that reads my memory card somewhere in the abyss that is the Volkswagon Transporter, and I’m way too lazy to go out and find it at this time of night. I swear, I really did go to Barcelona. And I really did eat things there. You just don’t know about it yet.

In the meantime, have fun with this quick and simple recipe for a chicken piccata-inspired dish that I made at the beginning of the summer. The ingredients are things that I pretty much always have around or can pick up on short notice, and the techniques are fairly basic: this recipe was one of three or four in my repertoire when I first started out cooking for myself.

The key is cooking the chicken in the wine: it’s a bit like poaching, and the juiciness that the extra bit of liquid imparts on the chicken means that even the most inexperienced of cooks won’t be plagued with the whole dry-as-a-bone boneless, skinless chicken breast fiasco that makes everyone understand why this particular cut of poultry is regarded as the dreaded “diet food.” Believe me, this flavorful sauce, while suspiciously low in calories (really, it’s just some wine and a bit of olive oil, and the rest is “free”) is super high in flavor.

Alternatively, you could do it with bone-in chicken pieces (I’m a fan of thighs: cheap and flavorful). Slightly less diet-y, but twice the fun! If you decide to go this route, I would recommend browning the chicken on the stovetop but finishing it (including the sauce) in the oven at 350 degrees Farenheit for even cooking.

Lemon-Spinach Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup white flour
1 lemon
½-1 cup white wine
salt and pepper

8 oz. spaghetti
1 cup thawed frozen spinach

Heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Dredge first in flour, then in egg, allowing the excess to drip off, and then again in flour. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts.

Heat the olive oil in the skillet until hot but not smoking. Lay the chicken breasts in the pan and allow to sear, two minutes on each side. For optimal browning, do not move the chicken while it is browning.

Turn the heat down to medium low and add the wine to the pan. Allow to cook, making sure that there is always liquid in the bottom of the pan so that the chicken does not burn. Turn once.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until al dente, about six minutes. Drain, reserving about a cup of cooking liquid, and add the spinach to the pasta.

Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the chicken, and then remove to a separate plate. Add more wine to the pan if necessary, and scrape up all of the bits on the bottom. Whisk together and add to the spaghetti. Add the juice of the other half of the lemon.

Serve the chicken over the spaghetti, with cheese on the side if desired.