It’s 2020 and time for some healthy eating after feasting during the holidays! Tammy and I agreed that this year our goal is to focus on recipes that aren’t only healthy and delicious, but quick and easy too.

Last weekend, we spent some time catching up on our favorite chef Rachael Ray, and her new 30 minute meals. It’s been a crazy year and we’ve been dying to cook together in her new kitchen. It was tough to choose as her recipes all made us drool, but we picked three lighter recipes we could prep and make ahead of time. The first was this Deviled Chicken Francese. Sounds fancy but it was easy!

The deviled part of the chicken recipe really caught our eye, especially with mustard and Calabrian chili’s involved. We used reduced-fat milk, unsalted butter, low-sodium broth, and skipped the bread to lighten it up. We just had it for dinner last night. It was so satisfying and tasty!

 -Melanie

Health tips: Low carb, low fat

Ingredients (4 servings)

• • 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast (no tenders)
  • Salt and pepper 
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 large eggs 
  • 1 scant tablespoon Dijon mustard 
  • 3 tablespoons reduced-fat milk 
  • 3 tablespoons Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
  • 2 lemons 
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 
  • 2 large cloves garlic, 1 crushed or chopped, 1 halved 
  • About 3/4 cup white wine 
  • 1 tablespoon Calabrian chili paste, harissa or sriracha 
  • About 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock 
  • A handful flat-leaf parsley, for serving 
  • 1 large bundle arugula or spinach

Steps

1. Gather your ingredients and a gel board to prepare chicken.
2. Halve the chicken breasts horizontally and butterfly them. Use a mallet to thin meat or even it out if needed — it depends on the size of the chicken breasts. Season meat with salt and pepper.
3. Set a station up: Flour in shallow dish; eggs beaten with mustard, milk, salt, pepper and cheese; large frying pan with oil (4 to 5 turns of the pan); a baking sheet with wire rack inserted and lined with parchment paper to remove the chicken to.
4. Preheat the oil in skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Coat chicken 2 at a time in flour, shake of excess, then in egg and allow excess to drip off. Cook chicken 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Repeat, removing cooked chicken to wire rack. Once chicken is cooked, slice and lightly brown 1 lemon; add to pan with chicken. Wipe excess oil from pan, return to heat and add butter. When it foams add 1 clove crushed garlic, juice of 1 lemon, wine and chili paste and reduce about 3 minutes. Add stock and reduce 5 minutes more. Pick and chop the parsley.
5. If you’re meal prepping ahead of time, store chicken and sauce separately in a container in the fridge.
6. Once ready to cook, add the chicken to sauce and heat the meat through, 3 to 4 minutes, turning occasionally. Add the sliced lemons and coat with sauce. Add parsley and transfer to plates. Serve cutlets with a small handful of arugula or spinach leaves underneath or alongside. Enjoy!