22 minutes and 31 second Meal!

It's only Wednesday but I feel like it's Friday! This week has been incredibly busy for our family. I know, who isn't, right? Between sports games, practices, music lessons, homework, school and work, I always feel like we are being pulled in a million different directions. It's all good but very exhausting. In hectic times like this it's easy for family dinners to be a quick drive thru to Mickey D's. And not to get all psychobabble but studies show that families who eat together stay together. It's true and I firmly believe that families who spend quality dinner time together are more connected.  No matter how busy we are we make family dinner time a priority in our household. It's not easy though so planning and forethought are essential. Tonight, Tyler and Zachary had a basketball game which ended at 6:00 pm. It would have been easy to just pick up a pizza but I knew I could whip up a homemade meal just as quickly and it would be way healthier. I'm usually not a fan of cooking "30 minute meals", no offense Rachael Ray, but when you are short on time quick meals are ideal. Tonight I made "Panko Crusted Chicken Cutlets with an Asparagus and Feta Salad." It only took me, and I timed it, 22 minutes and 31 seconds to cook and that included prep. Impressive right, especially considering the dish tasted amazing! So during those incredibly hectic days, carve out 22 minutes to make this tasty dinner for your family and they will thank you for it. Salute to "Families eating together even during the busiest times!"

Asparagus and Feta Salad with Panko Crusted Chicken

Serves 4

4 chicken cutlets - thinly cut
1 cup seasoned panko breadcrumbs
1 egg - whisked
1/4 cup olive oil
4 oz mesclun greens
1/2 lb asparagus cut in inch pieces
4 oz cherry tomatoes halved
2 oz crumbled feta cheese
1 avocado diced
1 lemon
1/4 of a small onion sliced very thinly
1 t minced garlic
salt n pepper

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tb of olive oil on medium heat.  Dip cutlets in whisked egg then coat with panko bread crumbs, salt n pepper and cook in saute pan for 5-7 minutes and turn over and cook other side for another 5 minutes until browned, then squeeze lemon juice over cutlets. Meanwhile, while chicken is cooking heat 1 tb olive oil in a small saute pan and cook asparagus over medium heat for 10 minutes until tender.  Set aside and cool. In a large salad bowl add mesclun, red onion, tomatoes, feta, avocado, asparagus and minced garlic. Drizzle olive oil over salad to coat, then add 1/2 lemon juice and salt n pepper.  Mix well until evenly coated.  Plate salad and then place cutlets on top. To round out this dish I served ciabatta bread on the side.

Food Impressions:

Nate: "Good but too lemony for me."

Tyler: "Chicken-lemonicious" (Ok, enough with the "icious" at the end of every food impression!)

Zachary: "Super tasty and I loved the chicken."  (I'm not even kidding this child went back for thirds on chicken)

Dave: "The chicken and the salad have a great balance of flavors."

Andrea (me): I actually found myself saying "wow, this is really good" several times throughout our meal.  It was really good and the balance of flavors where spot on.  I loved the fresh lemon on the cutlets and in the salad, in every bite there was a burst of it.