Cooking Corner: Honey Mustard Chicken

This is definitely a favorite family meal. I've made this a few times since getting married and Neil never gets tired of it. 

It's a very simple dish but very tasty. 

Ingredients: 

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thawed)
• 1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
• 1 tablespoon of honey (Lucky me! I have access to Manti honey but any honey will do.)
• 1/2 cup of pouring (whipping/table) cream (I've used heavy & light whipping cream but table should work just fine as well)
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley (from a jar/shaker is just fine)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Nutritional Facts:

(If light whipping cream is used)...roughly 366 calories (not including side dishes) 44g of protein, 18g fat (8g saturated fat) 8g carbohydrate, <1g fiber

I know, I know, 18g of fat? However, in a 2,000 calorie daily diet, one should be consuming at least 65g of fat. 18g is a little over 25% of your daily fat intake.

 Step One:

Season the chicken breasts with a little salt and pepper

Step Two:

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 7 minutes, then turn and cook the other side for 6 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover lightly with foil to keep warm. 

 
Step Three:

Reduce heat to medium. Add the mustard, honey and cream to the pan and cook, stirring for about 1 minute. (I usually don't measure out the honey because it doesn't like to come out of the measuring spoon so I eyeball it.) Stir in the parsley and season to taste. 

Step Four:

Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat in the sauce.

Step Five:

Serve!! I drizzle the sauce over the chicken and serve it that way usually. 

 Variations:

1. Omit step four and instead, cut the chicken into cubes/stripes whatever. Place on top of or mix into a basic green salad. Use the cream sauce you just made as a "dressing" for your salad.

2. Cook some rice, egg noodles or spaghetti noodles and serve the chicken on top of that.

A variation on the cooking of the chicken is as follows: Omit the cream & parsley and combine the mustard and honey with the zest of 1 lime, and 1-2 crushed garlic cloves (if you like that sort of thing, I for one, cannot eat garlic...) Spread mixture over the top of 4 chicken breasts. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and cook under a medium-hot broiler for 4-5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. 

Side Dish Options:

1. Sweet Potato Mash

2. Steamed sugarsnap peas

3. Steamed asparagus

4. Green salad

5. Steamed summer squash

6. Broccoli

I've tried this recipe a couple of different ways but the original way is still my favorite. We both absolutely LOVE IT! I hope you do too! If you try it (or have read it) and have any other suggestions for tweaking, leave me a comment and I'll try them out!