Lemony Chicken With Chickpeas + Veggies
The majority of my meals are often times spun from half used veggies, opened cans of beans and an overabundance of grape tomatoes because I have a tomato purchasing problem wherein I should likely enroll in some sort of small red fruit rehab program. I always anticipate I’m going to use wayyyyy more tomatoes during the week than I actually do.
With thinly sliced frozen chicken breasts always lining my freezer, Lemony Chicken with Chickpeas makes for the perfect weeknight kitchen sink meal. Also, lemons, there are always lemons on my counter or in my fridge and they should be in yours too! Adding a layer of acid and citrus to a dish or dressing makes for a guaranteed elevated flavor profile.
This dish can be paired with a grain or a hearty green salad, but I often eat it straight out of the pan. With a double dose of protein, hello chicken and chickpeas, and an ample amount of veggies - it’s nutritionally dense and filling. Whether you’re making this for as a family meal or for one, it’s a quick cook ready in moments.
Plan Ahead, You Can Do It
Know you’re gonna be home? Defrost your chicken the night before!
Never know your schedule but think you can manage to make dinner? Pick up a pack of thinly sliced chicken breasts on the way home and make this with no excuses.
Shrimp can easily sub in this meal and defrosts quickly if you’ve got it in your freezer!
Steam a few veggies on a weekend (I choose the quick and easily steamable string bean) and store them in a glass container, you’ll cut down your cooking time here, that’s what I do!
Don’t have an opened can of beans? Well, feel free to open a new one and call it a night.
Lemony Chicken With Chickpeas + Veggies
1 tablespoon of olive oil or olive oil spray
1-2 teaspoons of butter
8 oz of thin chicken breasts
½ of an onion, thinly sliced
1 cup of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
2 cups of pre-steamed string beans *you can also sub with frozen broccoli florets
½ can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed *or any other open can of beans you might have, great northern, cannellini or a white bean will do - I’ve even used leftover cooked lentils
Zest + juice of 1 large lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat olive oil in a large pan, over a medium flame, adding onions and placing chicken breasts on top
Sprinkle with a little salt, add tomatoes and cover until the chicken is white, about 3 minutes
Slightly lower the flame and add string beans, chickpeas, zest, lemon juice and butter - continue to cook for another 5-7 minutes
Finish with freshly ground pepper and adjust salt to t