Chicken Piccata with Angel Hair Pasta ($10 or Less Meal)

This is a great, easy chicken dish that you can cook in 15 minutes and takes about 10 minutes to prep. I picked up fresh spinach that was on sale and just made a bed of the fresh spinach, then laid angel hair pasta over that and placed the chicken piccata over the pasta and drizzled the yummy sauce over it. It is delicious! Trig said (our creative guy behind the camera) he liked the “crunch” of the spinach with the pasta. I didn’t even add butter to the pasta because the piccata sauce is so full of flavor that you don’t need to add any more fat…you could if you wanted, but it’s not needed. I picked up the chicken on sale for 99 cents lb and the breasts were so big, I was able to cut two cutlets from each one. To make your own cutlets, just place wax paper over them and pound them with a meat mallet or rolling pin…only takes seconds. This is a pretty looking dish, full of flavor, and inexpensive. For the chicken piccata, angel hair pasta and spinach, this came in at $7.oo for a family of four!

CHICKEN PICCATA with ANGEL HAIR PASTA & FRESH SPINACH-

*I got the chicken piccata recipe from About.Com Home Cooking and added the pasta and spinach to round it out.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4 for approx $7.00

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breast cutlets (about 1-1/2 pounds)
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup sweet white wine
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
• 1/2 cup chicken stock (I actually used chicken broth because I didn’t have stock on hand and it worked just fine)
• 1 Tablespoon small capers, drained (found on the condiment aisle)
• 8 ounces dry angel hair pasta
• 4-6 oz fresh spinach leaves
• kosher salt and pepper to season

Preparation:

In a large dutch oven or pasta pan, heat water to boiling (start this first so your water is ready before you start cooking your chicken).

Combine flour, onion powder, garlic powder, kosher salt, and black pepper. Sprinkle evenly on both sides of chicken cutlets.

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken in one layer and cook on the first side for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn and brown the other side. Turn only once. (It will cook more later.) Remove to a platter.

Add your pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions. (For angel hair, about 5 minutes.)

Add the white wine to the pan drippings and cook, scraping up the browned bits, until syrupy. Stir in the butter, lemon juice, and chicken stock. Cook for 2 minutes.

Return chicken to the pan, turning to coat both sides with sauce. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink in the center (16o on an instant-read thermometer). Sprinkle with capers. Let rest for 2 minutes.

Lay fresh spinach leaves on plate, add a layer of pasta, place chicken cutlet on pasta and drizzle with the pan sauce…delicious!