My girlfriends and I have come up with a new assignment for my mom that we’re calling, “Desperately Seeking Dinners!”.

Do your girlfriends make dinner every night for their families? Or do they claim to? Mine don’t, which is part of what I love about them – they’re real. No one pretends to be Super Mom and someone always has a bottle of wine chilling when one of us needs to escape the chaos.

A lot of our moms had dinner on the table every night when we were growing up (and none of the prepared food came out of a box). What’s different about our generation of moms is that we’ve busied our kids with extracurricular activities and teachers have burdened them (or should I say us)with homework and projects. We’ve over-scheduled life, and in turn are sleep deprived. We’re working in and out of the home, and frankly have way too many choices to contend with.

When I was little we always made Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies and we knew right where to find the chocolate chips on the grocery store shelf. Today, good luck with that. They’re surrounded by a plethora of options – butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, toffee bits, mini chips, cinnamon, chips, peanut butter chips, mint chips, and even white and milk chocolate striped chips. No wonder we’re all stressed out. Psychologists have done research that shows that all of these choices can be bad for our psyche. Self determination and choice are essential to our well-being and with too many choices, the simplest decision can become a challenge.

So this is what we’ve recruited my mom to do. Each week she has to share a recipe that meets the following criteria: ease of preparation, flavorful, healthy, and has crowd appeal. Bonus points will be awarded if a reasonably priced wine recommendation is included. Her first installment is for a delicious chicken recipe of her own creation. She’s also included a “must have” gadget to simplify life even more.  

 Lemon Parmesan Chicken Breasts by, Lynda

2 HALF CHICKEN BREASTS, SKINNED AND BONED

ZEST OF ONE SMALL LEMON (1 TEASPOON)

JUICE OF ONE SMALL LEMON (3 TABLESPOONS)

1/4 CUP SOUR CREAM

1/3 CUP ITALIAN BREAD CRUMBS

1/3 CUP PARMESAN CHEESE, GRATED

1 TABLESPOON EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

Place chicken breasts in a shallow bowl and drizzle lemon juice over breasts.  Let stand 10 – 15 minutes.

Combine zest, breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Dip chicken in sour cream then in breadcrumb mixture.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add olive oil to large skillet and heat over mediium high heat.  Add chicken and brown until chicken is done, approximately 8 minutes on each side.

Serve with steamed broccoli and cole slaw.

My new favorite gadget is the Palm Zester by  Chef’n available at Sur la Table.   This mess free tool is so easy to use!  It fits into the palm of your hand and stores the zest as you work.  At $8.00 I couldn’t resist!                                     

Now get Cooking! ~ Lynda