Creamy Lemon Chicken

Do you know what I absolutely love? When people tell me that I am super put together. Each and every time I hear these words, I look at the person blankly for a second, and then practically laugh out loud. Because the thing is, I am just as human as anyone else. I procrastinate on AP notes. I am super clumsy, and I trip on thin air. I fail tests, I get three hours of sleep sometimes, and occasionally, I run out of clean socks. Nobody is perfect; perfection simply is not a human quality, and is therefore impossible. We are all beautiful messes. No one is completely put together. It's so simple to forget that everyone around us, from the popular football player to the girl who seems happy each and every day, is facing their own individual obstacles. We tend to become so engrossed in our own little bubble of stress and troubles that the fact that everyone else is going through the same thing entirely escapes our minds. This happens to me all. The. Time.

It's okay to be messy.

Oh - and speaking of things I forget. This week I failed to include some pretty important items on the grocery list. I made a mistake. Case in point:

Today's recipe wasn't supposed to be a chicken recipe at all! When I whipped out my cast iron pan last night, I was planning on cooking up some delicious, free-range, organic ground turkey. Sure, they're both poultry, but chicken and turkey are incredibly different. While you can have ground turkey browned in the blink of an eye, it takes a whole lot longer to pan fry chicken breasts. Imagine my surprise when I opened the meat drawer and... there was no turkey. I had spaced it. It was six-thirty, my family was hungry, and I hadn't purchased the protein for the evening's meal. 

But there was chicken, so that is what I made for dinner. My plan didn't work out for the turkey, but things happen. Life isn't linear, and I'm not perfect. And as it turned out, the chicken tasted pretty darn good.

Creamy Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• Plenty of olive oil or butter
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 4 to 5 ounces of full-fat cream cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Herbs de Provence
• Parmesan cheese, grated
• zest of one lemon

Execution

Heat a drizzle of olive oil or a few tablespoons of grass-fed butter over medium-high heat in a cast iron skillet. When heated, add the diced chicken to the pan. Stir and cook until no pink remains and the chicken has been nicely browned; ensure you do not overcook the protein. If there is excess liquid in the pan, make sure to remove it with a spoon. When the chicken is fully cooked, add your two minced garlic cloves, salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence to taste. Stir until fragrant, about one minute. Next, lower the heat slightly and pour the heavy whipping cream into the pan. Add your cream cheese, mixing the sauce and smothering the chicken. Allow to cook until slightly thickened and heated through, and add your lemon zest. If you are using quite a large lemon, you should not need all of the zest; you merely want enough to add a lovely punch of flavor to the dish. Stir thoroughly, and portion out the Creamy Lemon Chicken. Top with plenty of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and cracked pepper, and enjoy! I suggest pairing this meal with a dessert of fresh blueberries - I've always thought that blueberries and lemon go well together. 

Remember that it's okay to make mistakes, everyone. You can be messy sometimes, you have a right to be wrong, and you can off-days. I know that I have them. Have a terrific Friday!

Ciao!
- Maya

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash, Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash,
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash, Photo by Heather Schwartz on Unsplash