Low Carb French Chicken w Balsamic Spinach Salad
How to Make It
Step 1
Prepare 3 ½-ounce thin-sliced chicken breasts by pounding them flat to no more than ½-inch thickness. Season the breasts with salt and pepper. Additionally, arrange the paleo flour on a clean plate or flat surface. You may include more flour to ensure you coat the chicken fully. In a shallow dish, whisk together an egg and the heavy cream. Set the flour and egg aside for the next step.
Step 2
Heat the olive oil in either a cast-iron skillet or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When the olive oil is hot, then you can bread the chicken. Dredge each chicken breast one-by-one in the paleo flour first. Shake the excess flour off the chicken and then dip it in the egg. Once excess egg drips off the chicken, dredge it once more in the flour. Shake loose flour off the chicken one final time, then set the breaded chicken in the hot oil.
Step 3
Cook the chicken for about 5 minutes per side until the chicken is cooked through and the breading has turned golden brown on both sides. You can adjust the heat as necessary to avoid burning. Once the chicken is cooked, set the pan aside to rest. Melt the butter in a new, clean pan over low heat. Slice a lemon into about 3 slices per serving and add them to the butter. Place a lid over the pan and let the lemon slices steep in the butter over low heat for 3-4 minutes. *Please see the note made in the introduction about lemons*
Step 4
Add the capers and chicken broth to the pan of lemons. Return the lid and let the ingredients stew over very low heat. The liquid will begin to gently bubble and reduce slightly to a thickened glaze with a little viscosity. Once the liquid has reached this texture, transfer the chicken breasts to the lemon butter sauce. You can increase the heat slightly to help re-heat the chicken breasts in the sauce. Flip the chicken over so the sauce coats the breading. You can also spoon the sauce and lemon slices over the chicken to help distribute the flavors.
Step 5
Once the chicken is hot, you can set the Chicken Francese aside to rest temporarily while you make the balsamic spinach salad. Chop washed and dried spinach, and add it to a large mixing bowl. Dice tomatoes, avocado, and fresh whole-milk mozzarella. Add these ingredients to the spinach. Season the ingredients with the second amounts of salt and pepper, tossing the mixing bowl until everything is seasoned.
Step 6
Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, crushed red pepper, and grated parmesan. Pour this mixture over the spinach salad and toss the salad together a final time. You can choose to let the spinach marinate in your refrigerator for about 15 minutes or you can serve the salad immediately. Serve a fried chicken breast with lemon butter sauce and about 4 ounces of balsamic spinach salad. You can also include the whole lemon slices from the sauce as a garnish.
Ingredients
- Chicken Breast Boneless Skinless Raw – 7 oz
- Salt – 0.13 tsp
- Black pepper – 0.13 tsp
- Paleo Baking Flour – 2 tbsp
- Raw egg – 0.5 large
- Cream Heavy Whipping – 0.5 tsp
- Olive Or Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 tsp
- Butter, unsalted – 1.5 tbsp
- Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
- Capers – 0.5 tsp
- Chicken broth – 2 tbsp
- Spinach – 2 oz
- Tomato – 2 oz
- Avocado – 1 oz
- Mozzarella cheese, whole milk – 2 oz
- Salt – 0.13 tsp
- Black pepper – 0.13 tsp
- Olive Or Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 tsp
- Balsamic vinegar – 0.5 tsp
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes – 0.25 tsp
- Parmesan cheese, fresh (hard) – 0.5 tbsp, grated