Pecan Crusted Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

This recipe is sooo delicious! It does take a fair amount of prep, but it can be done in steps ahead of time if needed.
I got the recipe from a magazine, Cuisine at home.

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6-8 oz each)
Dipping mixture:
blend:
2 egg whites
2 t. cornstarch
juice of 1/2 lemon

Crusting mixture:
combine:
1 C. course dry bread crumbs*
1 T. chopped fresh parsley
1 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
zest of 1 lemon, minced
3/4 C. finely chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 t. paprika
1/4 t. cayenne (Mmmmm, gives it a little kick)

*To make the bread crumbs, use a day old loaf of rustic style bread. Cut bread into cubes, leaving crust on if it isn't too hard. Process to crumbs, they don't have to be uniform. Dry the crumbs on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes in a 200 degree oven until dried but not toasted.
0. Preheat oven to 450. (I forgot to put this step first, so now it's step zero).
1. Cut the chicken breast in half. Pound each half until it is 1/2 inch thick.
2. Dip in dipping mixture
3. Dip in crumb mixture
4. Saute in 3 Tbs. olive oil in a large skillet for about 3 minutes per side, then transfer to an oven to roast until done, about 8 more minutes. It is handy if you use an oven proof skillet, then you can just saute the chicken on one side, flip, and place in oven.

So that's the chicken.
The salad is as follows:

8 cups mixed greens
1/2 C. red onion, thinly sliced (this was my favorite part)
4 oz. mild goat cheese, crumbled. (I love goat cheese but Jason doesn't, so I don't usually have it on hand. It was good without it but I'm sure it is heavenly with it.)

Honey Mustard dressing:
Combine in a screw top jar and shake:
1/4 C. honey
3 T. Dijon mustard
3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 T. shallot, minced
1 T. apple cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the dressing with the salad just before serving. Slice the chicken and arrange it nicely on top. Throw on any crumbs left in the pan. MMMmmm, crunchy!
Enjoy!
Serves 4.
Takes about an hour to prepare. For mother's day I had prepped everything the night before. I had made the dressing, put the greens in a bowl, and crusted the chicken. It's good to let the crust air dry on the crumbs anyway, so it was fine to do it the night before.
The day of I just cooked the chicken and tossed the salad together. 15 minutes of day-of prep!

Molasses cookies

Molasses cookies
1 stick butter +1/4 C. canola oil
1/4 C. light molasses
1 C. sugar
1 large egg
2 C. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cloves

Melt butter and oil over low heat. Remove from heat and beat in molasses and 1 c. sugar until blended. Whisk in egg. With spoon, stir in flour and remaining ingredients. Transfer dough to medium bowl and freeze 15 minutes until firm. roll into ball and roll in sugar. Cook 10 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet at 375.

I like to make small balls and bake them for about 7 or 8 minutes. They are nice and thin and soft.

Chicken picatta

Chicken Picatta
This is a fairly simple dish, delicious, and nice for company or something special. Very good over buttered angel hair pasta!

2 large lemons
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split in half horizontally, creating 8 thin breasts
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour
4 tbs. oil
1 small shallot, minced, or 1 small garlic clove, minced
1 Cup chicken stock or canned broth
2 tbs. drained small capers
3 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs. minced fresh parsley leaves.

Halve one lemon pole to pole. Trim ends from one half and cut crosswise into thin slices; set aside. Juice remaining half and whole lemon to obtains 1/4 C. juice; reserve.

Sprinkle both sides of cutlets with salt and pepper. Coat with flour.

Heat pan over medium high heat until hot; add 2 Tbs. oil. Saute half of the cutlets, without moving them, until lightly browned on first side, 2-3 minutes. Turned cutlets and saute other side. Remove and transfer to warm oven (200 degrees). Repeat with remaining 2 Tbs. oil and cutlets.

Add shallot or garlic to now empty skillet and return to medium heat. Saute for a few seconds until fragrant. Add stock, heat to high, and scrape bottom of skillet for the brown bits. Simmer until liquid reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Add lemon juice, lemon slices and capers and simmer about 1 minutes. Remove pan from heat and swirl in butter until it melts and thickens sauce (mmmmm); swirl in parsley. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve immediately. Serves 4-6.

Bruschetta

First, Bruschetta. This is probably my #1 favorite food! It's so simple:
small loaf good baguette bread
soft butter
fresh tomatoes, preferably a mixture, even more preferably heirloom tomatoes
fresh basil--small to medium handful
1-2 garlic cloves
Parmesan cheese

Slice, butter, and lightly toast bread.
finely chop tomatoes (1-2 large, or mixture of several smaller), drain juices and seeds
chop basil finely
add finely chopped garlic
mix in Parmesan cheese
top onto bread and toast or broil again.

I could eat this every day!