Tags
capers, chicken, d/f, dairy free, g/f, gluten free, lemon, rice
Before kids, even before the Handsome Husband entered the picture, my sweet neighbors and I never ordered Italian take out without calling each other. “Petrinis run”, we’d shout across the lawn, “what do you want?”. Petrinis is one of those old, simple spots, with red vinyl seats and waitresses who know your name. I remembered going there with my grandma, and my neighbor Shari had happy childhood dinner memories there as well. We often had birthday dinners there, and eventually our small kids (first Shari’s, then mine) would scoot around the long seats, chatting up new friends. One of my favorite dishes was Chicken Piccata, a rich, creamy dish with thick cuts of savory chicken, just the right amount of capers, and sauce that never ran out.
It’s seemingly impossible to replicate as gluten and dairy free, or so I thought! Using my staple potato and leek soup (Imagine brand), and making a sauce with fresh lemon juice and olive oil, it comes pretty close. I replace the fettucini with rice to help soak up the sauce, and no complaints exist. Our kids may grow up with a dairy-free and gluten-free mom, but they won’t be missing out on this classic!
LEMON CHICKEN WITH CAPERS, gluten-free and dairy-free
2 large chicken breasts, boneless
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 shallots, chopped fine (or 1/2 onion if you don’t have shallots)
1 carton Imagine brand potato/leek soup (g/f, d/f)
1 egg
1/3 cup g/f flour
1 tea white pepper
½ tea paprika
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 large lemon
2-3 Tbsp capers
Olive oil (2-3 Tbsp to fry chicken pieces, plus 1-2 Tbsp more for shallots)
In a deep saucepan, melt olive oil over medium heat. Mix white pepper and paprika with flour, set aside. Lightly scramble egg in bowl, set aside. Slice boneless chicken breasts into 3 or 4 diagonal slices, about 1 inch thick. Dip chicken in egg, then flour, and fry in oil for about 4-5 min per side. Remove chicken from pan. Add about 1-2 tbsp more oil and sautee shallots with the garlic. Add any left over flour to mixture, then add a little bit of chicken broth at a time, stirring in between to make a nice sauce. Add potato/leek soup, juice of 1 large lemon, and capers. Add chicken and capers. Cook about 5 – 10 more minutes, or until chicken appears cooked through. Sauce should be medium thick and cover most of the chicken. Serve over rice.