Italian Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups

I am going to begin this entry by saying this recipe has been quite confusing. There are several variations by Ina posted which is unusual and all the ingredients and measurements are different. I am not sure why so I went with what I thought would be a good combo. Luckily I don’t think you could really screw this recipe up so feel free to improvise as you see fit or follow the recipe as I did it and you will get pretty delicious results with minimal confusion.
Italian Chicken Salad Lettuce Cups
adapted from Ina Garten

Here is the list of ingredients adapted from her book:
4 cups shredded chicken (from about 1 whole rotisserie chicken)
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds (put in pan over low heat toast until slightly browned and fragrant)
½ box farfalle pasta (I used the little Barilla bow-ties)
1 diced red and yellow peppers (I didn’t have any Yellow so I used 1 red and just realized the original recipe called for them to be roasted—I just put them in raw)
1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (I think you have to use fresh for this recipe)
1/4 cup drained capers
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cups Red Wine Vinaigrette
12 butter lettuce leaves (from about 2 heads)
2-oz chunk of Parmesan cheese, shaved with a veggie peeler ( I used the grated I get from Costco)

Directions
Toss the chicken, pasta, bell peppers, onion, parsley, almonds, and capers in a large bowl with enough vinaigrette to moisten.
Season the chicken salad with salt and pepper, to taste.
Arrange 1 large lettuce cup and 1 small lettuce cup on each plate, overlapping slightly.
Spoon the chicken salad into the lettuce cups.
Drizzle more vinaigrette over the salads.
Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve.

Do-Ahead Tip: The chicken salad can be prepared 4 hours ahead and refrigerated.
Just before serving, spoon the salad into the lettuce cups.

Red Wine Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup olive oil
Combine the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender.
With the machine running, gradually add the oil and blend until emulsified

VERDICT
Does this lady ever miss?? This was really good chicken salad and I consider myself an expert on chicken salad. I also love lettuce cups and this was such a great idea. In some versions of this recipe there is no pasta but I really liked the addition of it because it made it a complete meal in one lettuce cup. It was very filling and I didn't want to stop eating it. I am so excited that I have a huge container of leftovers and more lettuce to wrap it in. This would be a great way to use turkey leftovers too. I am not sure if I changed the flavor too much by not using roasted red peppers but since I like it a lot this way, I will probably say no. If you try it the original way, please let me know how it is with roasted peppers. Next time I might add some marinated artichokes too. YUM!

Parmesan Chicken

So begins my tribute to Giada and Ina. I was bored last night so I scrolled through their top 100 recipes. Well, I only got to #15 with Giada so maybe next week she will carry over and we'll add some Paula Deen into the mix too.
Tonight's dinner was a variation on something I make all the time. Chicken Cutlets are a family favorite. This add a little more flavor, some leafy greens because who does not need more leafy greens, and just something a little fancier for a Monday night. I think I might have made this dish once before prior to my blogging days.

Parmesan Chicken
From Ina Garten
Ingredients
4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts --I used thin breast to eliminated having to pound them out
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry

1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette, recipe follows

Directions
Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick.
You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate.
On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water.
On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan.
Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through.
Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.
Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette.
Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast.
Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Lemon Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Yield: 6 servings

VERDICT
STINKING YUMMY
Who knew that little vinaigrette could pack such a flavor punch. It was really light and tasty and I was asked to keep this in the rotation. What more can I say. It was a nice variation on something we eat all the time. For just the 2 of us, I did 1/2 the vinaigrette recipe and it was plenty for just 2 large salads with chicken and no leftover.