Chicken Marsala

Tonight's dinner is Chicken Marsala. Now I know what you are probably thinking - marsala wine is full of salt! For this tasty meal, I do not use grocery-store bought Marsala Wine, which has added salt. I purchased a bottle of Pellegrino Marsala Superiore Dry from Italy, which is super tasty, inexpensive ($12.99/bottle) and lasts for months after opening. After purchasing this Marsala Wine, Chicken Marsala has become a staple in our house - it's easy and super tasty!

Tonight I have modified my normal recipe a bit to be more on the diet side. I will add the non-diet ingredients in parenthesis if you wish to add them in :)

Chicken Marsala

Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon Essence Spice (homemade - see below for recipe)
8 white or bella mushrooms, washed and quartered
1/2 cup Marsala Wine (NOT grocery store variety - NO SODIUM)
(2 tablespoons unsalted butter)
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
(2 tablespoons cream)

First you will want to trim all the nasties off your chicken. Then cut your chicken cross-wise into 3 pieces, leaving the thinnest pieces a little longer than the thicker pieces. Put down a layer of wax paper, or plastic wrap on your counter and place your chicken pieces. Place another piece of paper/plastic over the chickens and beat with a mallet or rolling pin, or bottle of wine if you dare. You want them to be about 1/3 of an inch thick.

Now take the flour and Essence and combine in a bowl. Dip each chicken piece and cover thoroughly with the flour, then shake any excess off. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil, or 1 tablespoon oil and 1 butter, to almost smoking. Brown both sides of the chicken pieces. This could take up to 20 minutes (10 minutes per side).

Browned Chicken

Remove the chickens to a plate to rest. Add the mushrooms and lower the heat to medium. Let the mushrooms soak up the chicken lerftovers - be sure to scrape any pieces off the bottom of the pan. Once the mushrooms have lost most of their moisture (4 minutes), add 1/2 cup of Marsala Wine. Then add your chicken, and the chicken stock. Get your chicken babies nice and coated with the juices and simmer slowly until your sauce develops and covers a spoon nicely (5-7 minutes). At this point you can add your cream if you like to be fat ;)

Chicken Marsala

Essence Spice
I make this and and store it with my spice to use on any chicken dishes I make. Just combine all ingredients below.

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
  
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Easy Side Dish -

Squash and Zucchini in Tomato Sauce
Chop an onion, some garlic and saute. Add 2 chopped squash and 2 chopped zucchini. Add in 1/2 of a 28 oz. can of Organic San Marzano Tomatoes (40mg sodium/half cup), 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning, 1 teaspoon Frontier Pizza Seasoning, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Chicken Marsala with Squash and Arugula Salad