Cooking the Issue Do-Over: Meyer Lemon Chicken

After an exhausting FAILURE of the Cooking Light Meyer Lemon Chicken recipe, I felt like I needed a do over. My new motto for life is No Complaining without A Solution! Meaning, don’t just bitch and bitch and bitch and do nothing about your problem. You can complain, but you’ve got to have an answer to “Whattaya gonna do about it?”
In this case I was going to try to recreate the flavors of this dish, without the excruciating 3 hours spent in the kitchen. Who has time for that? Not I. Not I.

I was able to cut it down to roughly an hour – less if you’re quicker with prep (I’m not…I dawdle and sing along to my cooking playlist). Also, I managed to do this without the oven - mostly because I dripped some stuff in my oven and it was smoking like crazy, so I had to change up my plan.
My take is with just chicken thighs. I know they’re dieter kryptonite and all, but I vastly prefer to eat a little less but get more satisfying flavor. I think this can be done with boneless skinless parts, but I can’t vouch for the cooking times. If you try it, let me know how it works!

You’ll notice in my pics I used skin-on thighs. I recommend going skinless for many reasons.It will save you fat and calories, primarily. I don’t think it added anything to keep the skin on the way this ended up. I would’ve tested it again with the alteration, but I am now officially SO OVER IT!
But it was very, very YUM.

Diet Drama Meyer Lemon ChickenMake 4 Servings
Stats Per Serving: 170 Calories | 8 g fat | 7 g carbs | 15 g protein
What You’ll Need:
2 lbs Chicken Thighs, skinless with bone in (about 4 thighs)
1 1/2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
1 Meyer Lemon cut into wedges
Juice from 1 & 1/2 Meyer Lemons, divided (you’ll use 1 sooner, the 1/2 later)
1 + 1/2 TBS Fresh Thyme
5 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 onion, cut in half and sliced
1/8 c chopped Kalamata olives
1+1/2 c Chicken Broth
1/4 c White Wine (I used Reisling)
What You’ll Do
1. Salt & Pepper your chicken thighs. Get a pan nice and hot, put olive oil in that pan. Brown the Chicken thighs on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Remove Chicken from the pan and set aside, you’ll be back for it soon
2. Pour off about 1/2 the fat left in the pan.
3. Add the onions to the pan. Cook them about 3 to 4 minutes until they’re soft and getting a little color
4. Add the garlic and thyme. keep it moving so that garlic doesn’t burn. Sautee for about 30 seconds (until stuff starts to smell GOOD)
5. Add the juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup). It’s gonna get steamy.
6. Add the olives. Sautee for 30 sec to a minute
7. Make some room in the pan and add the lemon wedges. Make sure they have contact with the pan. Cook them about a minute per side.

8. Put that chicken back in the pan
9. Add your chicken broth, wine, and the rest of the lemon juice. Simmer for about 10 minutes covered. Flip the chicken, and simmer for 5 more minutes
10. Remove the cover and simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes to reduce the sauce and thicken it up. If you like some thicker sauce, add cornstarch. I don’t think it needed it, personally.

11. Make sure the chicken is cooked through (thighs should be tender). Serve and cover with sauce, onion, and other goodies.

I served it with cauliflower puree and brussel sprouts. Another delish side that is super easy. Just steam cauliflower (1 big head will do) until it’s very tender. About a minute past fork tender. Put it all in a food processer with a little water, some butter, light sour cream and chives. Whir it in there until its the consistency of mashed potatoes. Salt, pepper, plate. If you’re reheating, it bakes nicely at 350 for about 15 minutes. (this can run up to about 120 calories per generous serving)