SUZANNE’S WEDNESDAY CHICKEN…
Brava Suzanne.
Chicken Paillard w/ Fresh Tomato Salsa & Arugula
OK – I’ve told you about Suzanne’s ‘Monday’ chicken piccata and blogged about her ‘Tuesday’ chicken paillard w/ lemon-parsley butter and seared red chard… Delicious dishes Richard made from recipes found in “Suzanne Somers’ Eat Great, Lose Weight” cookbook.
Well, I’m here again w/ my one-woman campaign to return Suzanne Somers to her rightful place as a top tabloid celebrity by blogging about a third chicken dish Richard found in that cookbook and made on Wednesday: chicken paillard w/ fresh tomato salsa and arugula. Light, simple and oh so satisfying. And another dish I would proudly serve ‘company’ made even lovelier paired w/ a bottle of Ferrari-Carano fume blanc (for the non-oaky crowd) or Ferrari-Carano chardonnay (for the oaken bucketeers)… Check out my Ferrari-Carano blog for more details.
Or, how about a nice pinot noir such as the Smoking Loon 2008 (the wine we had), a lovely wine for a moderate price (under $10.00).
And, who knows - after the ‘media’ reads my blogs, we might see Suzanne on Entertainment Tonight cooking up a chicken dish for Thursday… or, perhaps, her chicken recipes will propel her to Food Network stardom. You can never tell what a one-woman campaign can wrought.
Whether she returns to her former super celeb-dom or not, the truth is these chicken dishes are really good and inexpensive – the latter being a very relevant factor in these economic times.
Chicken Paillard w/ Fresh Tomato Salsa & Arugula
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Chicken Paillard:
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Garnish: 1 bunch arugula (or your favorite green)
Salsa:
4 medium tomatoes, diced
1 bunch flat-leaf parley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
juice from ½ lemon
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
For Salsa: Combine the ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside to let the flavors combine. (Do not refrigerate or the tomatoes will get mealy.)
For the chicken: Rinse the chicken breasts and pat them dry. Place each breast flat on a chopping block and slice in half through the middle to make it half as thick (w/ your knife parallel to the chopping block).
Place each slice between 2 layers of plastic wrap and pound w/ a mallet until he chicken is ¼ inch thick. Season each breast w/ salt, pepper and rosemary.
Heat a skillet over high heat. Add the olive oil and as many of the chicken pieces as will fit in the pan w/o overlapping. Brown for 2-3 minutes on each side and set aside in an oven on warm. Repeat for remaining chicken.
Line 4 dinner plates w/ fresh arugula. Arrange 2 pieces of chicken on top of the arugula on each plate and garnish each plate w/ a large spoonful of salsa.
Brava Suzanne.
