Lemon Chicken (5WW Points) and Lemon Barley Pilaf (3WW Points)

Lemon Chicken (5WW Points)

Ingredients (sorry no photos, guess I was busy...)

1 1/4 pounds uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

Pound chicken breasts with meat mallot to a uniform 1/2 inch thickness. Dredge lightly in flour and reserve excess (flour). In large sautee pan over medium-high heat, heat oil until it sizzles. Add chicken breasts and cook 4-5 minutes.



Cook until the chicken is lightly browned on both sides, and the juices run clear.



Remove chicken to plate. Stir reserved flour into saute pan. Whisk in broth and lemon juice; heat to boiling.



Boil 1 minute to thicken slightly. (It didn't really thicken too much. I tried adding some corn starch, which helped slightly. I would recommend not using any of the leftover flour, but make a roux out of corn starch (more than the teaspoon I used) and thicken it that way. The sauce really has a nice lemon flavor, and would be better if it stuck to the chicken more.) Return chicken to pan to heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the chicken with some sauce, atop a bed of rice. Well, that's what the recipe said. But I made the barley salad instead. Really, my meal was all about wanting to make a barley salad, and this lemon chicken just seemed like it would go well with it, being they were both lemony and all.

Lemon Barley Pilaf (3 WW Points)



Ingredients

1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup uncooked barley, pearl variety
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
1 medium carrot, peeled, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp raw lemon peel, finely grated

Instructions

Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until onion is beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.



Add barley; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly.



Add chicken broth and bay leaf; bring to boil.



Reduce heat to low, stir once, and cover. Cook until barley is almost tender, about 25 minutes.
Add carrot and bell pepper; cover and cook until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Remove pilaf from heat and stir.



Cover and let stand 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf. I've forgotten to do this before (in other recipes). I wouldn't recommend it. Bay leaves add nice flavor when cooking, but aren't so good for eating.



Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in lemon peel and serve.



The verdict?

I thought it was all quite yummy. Mark and Kaelyn liked the chicken just fine (nothing fabulous, they thought, but good enough). They didn't like the barley though. Kaelyn could barely eat it - though I suspect she was just being a bit melodramatic, and she did manage to eat most of it. Mark ate it but said he didn't really like the stuff in it (the carrots, bell pepper, and perhaps even the lemony flavor). He liked the chewy-ness of the barley though. I LOVED the chewy-ness of the barley, and liked the stuff it was cooked with. Since the rest of my gang weren't fans, I won't make it again. I will, however, use it in place of Arborio rice in some of my favorite risotto recipes. I just loved the texture of the barley, and it adds some great variety nutritionally to the other grains we usually eat.