Lemon and Spinach Chicken

Happy Wednesday, we are half way through the week yay!  The beach last weekend was fabulous, it was so nice and sunny on Saturday that we were hanging out on the porch in t-shirts (picture below).  Although when we arrived to the beach on Friday it started hailing sporadically and was very windy...feels like spring in Oregon!  Now this will be my final post about New Orleans on our final night in town we went to this amazing Italian restaurant called Domenica and it is attached to a beautiful old hotel.  There were so many delicious things on the menu that it was hard for me to choose. We all shared the roasted cauliflower with whipped feta (pictured below) and ceci caponata which was chickpeas and ricotta on grilled bread. I really wanted to try the octopus carpaccio but I knew no one else would have eaten it. Then for my main course I ordered the stracci which consists of wide green noodles oxtail ragu and fried chicken livers (pictured below) and I was blown away. The noodles were delicious and covered in the amazing ragu and the chicken livers were cooked perfectly and still pink in the middle.  I was a very happy camper.  After dinner we decided to go to Harrah's Casino which was such a trip, I didn't win any money but I only played $20 so no biggie (picture below).  Some of my co-workers had better luck though and won $60 off of $20 which was pretty exciting.  After another walk down Bourbon Street we decided to head back to the hotel and hit the hay.  All in all it was an amazing and exhausting trip but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.  I adapted this recipe last night and it was healthy and satisfying, enjoy! I served this with steamed broccoli.

Serves 3

The Ingredients
3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
3 tablespoons butter, divided
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Juice of 1 lemon
4 cups baby spinach, torn


The Process
1.  Cut each chicken breasts into 2 or 3 smaller pieces. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with paprika. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and set aside in a 13x9 pan.

3.  Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes until starting to brown. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, stir in spinach, and simmer until the spinach has reduced in size and the sauce has slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Pour mixture over chicken in pan and sprinkle the last 1/4 cup of Parmesan over the chicken.

4.  Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through about 15 minutes.  Serve immediately.