A Week of Cooking Light: Friday: Chicken Picatta

Welcome to Friday's meal from Cooking Light's Sunday Strategist meal plan for this week!  Sorry it's a day late...  it was another late night dinner and I was feeling way too lazy to blog last night.

So after getting through this whole menu this week, I can safely say that I liked every dinner I made this week!  Friday's meal was a classic: Chicken Picatta.  I hadn't made this in a really long time, so it was nice to have it.  As you can see I didn't use orzo and I didn't make the broccoli rabe (even though I LOVE broccoli rabe) since I didn't have orzo on hand and we had a bunch of asparagus, so I really needed to use that instead.  It turned out great!  The only thing I would say to do that the recipe doesn't mention is after you pan cook the chicken, put it on a cookie sheet and stick it in a 350 degree oven to finish cooking.  Since chicken breasts can be thick, it's kinda hard to cook them completely through in a pan without making the outside too done and tough.  So just get the chicken nice and browned on both sides, then stow it away in the oven and move on with the recipe.

I asked Mark what he favorite meal was from this week and he said he really did like them all.  He really enjoyed the fish stew and the grilled cheese.  I loved knowing what I was going to make each night.  I really like the idea of planning the week's meals the weekend before.  I'm pretty busy at work a lot of the time, so it's nice not to have to dream up what to make on some nights.

It was also really nice to eat lighter.  Not that we eat badly, really, but we could probably do a better job at eating lighter.  We always get in our veggies and we always eat a variety of foods and really don't stuff ourselves.  Anyway, I think I'll try and keep this going and look for more meal plans and lighter recipes to prepare through the week.  I'm kind of excited to see what the Sunday Strategist will post for next week's plan!  They post it every Sunday morning, so be sure to look for yourself tomorrow and try making a week's worth of Cooking Light meals, too!  If you do, let me know how you liked it!  Send me pics and I'll be sure to post them here on the blog.

If you'd like to create your own meal plan using Cooking Light recipes rather than following the Sunday Strategist's plan, you can use their WAY COOL Weeknight Meal Planner and create your own plan.  Click on the link to go to the meal planner page where you can search for recipes and then drag and drop your favorite recipes into your plan.  How fun! 

Ok, so to see how to make the Chicken Picatta, check out my video below.  Thanks for going on this journey with me and stay tuned to see what my next project will be.  Hmmmm, what should I do next?  Suggestions?  Leave them in the comments below.