Recipe #6 - Lemon Tea Chicken

Ok, this is something I made up when I was about 12. It took a few tries to get it just right, but boy is it ever JUST right. I used to serve it over pasta and use a lot more olive oil since it sort of made the sauce, but now I've been serving it with zucchini and we really don't miss the pasta that much. Its not low-fat, but it is low-carb and it is oh-my-goodness-my-toes-are-curling delicious. My best friend has told me on multiple occasions that she ponders this dish and dreams about this dish. I showed her how to make it but she never has, she just asks me to! :)

Remember, the secret to good simple food is the quality of the ingredients. Its only as good as the stuff you put in it. This is especially true for Italian food methinks.

Ingredients

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks
2 tbsp good quality olive oil
1 cup ripe tomatoes chopped into bite size pieces (I like quartered compari tomatoes)
2 small zucchini cut into bite sized chunks (skin on please, fiber!)
zest of 1 large lemon
juice of 1 large lemon (use the same lemon obviously)
2 tbsp italian seasoning
1 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper (fresh ground please, flavor!)
the tea from inside 1 black tea bag (any kind of black tea, just not flavored - I use darjeeling because its what I have but Lipton worked just fine in the past)
3/4 cup grated parmesano reggiano (the real stuff people, fork up the dough!)


Instructions

In a cup combine the lemon juice, zest, tea, italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and pepper. At first it will be kind of thin but let it sit for 10-15 minutes, and the seasonings will soak up the lemon juice to make a kind of paste. This also gives time for the tea to brew a little bit to flavor the magical concoction of love.

In a large NON-STICK sauce pan or dutch oven, over medium, heat the olive oil and add the chicken. Saute chicken until about 1/2 - 3/4 done and then add the zucchini. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook for a few minutes to let the zucchini and chicken brown slightly, then add the magical paste of love and stir. Cook for a few more minutes, inhaling the delicious aromas and allowing the chicken to completely cook. Now here's the fun part. Turn the heat to high and add the cheese. Stir it around and allow the cheese to brown and stick to the bottom with the lemony spices. This should only take a minute or three. Then turn OFF the heat, use a spatula to scrape all the sticky stuff up and then add the tomatoes, stir, and serve. The tomatoes shouldn't really cook, just get warmed through from the hot food.

If perchance, you wanted to serve this over pasta, use a little more olive oil so the oil coats the pasta like a sauce. This is also quite good with roasted red bell pepper if you have it on hand or feel like roasting some red bell pepper :)

This chicken is super-de-duper people, worth it, try it!