Lemony Chicken Breast with Cucumber Feta Salad
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for cooking
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of honey depending on how sour lemon is
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 1 cup (113 grams) diced hothouse or seedless cucumber
- 4 ounces (113 grams) feta cheese diced
- Carbohydrate 8.60206375667326 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 5.40274916883389 g
- Fiber 1.79731255431753 g
- Protein 1.57926041694985 g
- Saturated Fat 0.74384750029957 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (219g)
- Sodium 1487.31206666728 mg
- Sugar 6.80475120235573 g
- Trans Fat 0.219759166724907 g
- Calories 81 calories
Step-by-step
- Combine lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dill, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Use the back of a small spoon to press garlic and dill into other ingredients. (This releases more flavor from the dill and garlic). Add marinade to a resealable plastic bag or small rimmed dish then add chicken. Marinate 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.
- Brush extra garlic from chicken and pat dry.
- Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium frying pan (with lid) over medium-high heat. As soon as the oil is hot and looks shimmery, add chicken. Cook 2 to 3 minutes until golden.
- Flip, reduce heat to low then cover with lid. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until an instant read thermometer reads 165 degrees F (74C) when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.
- Transfer chicken to a plate then cover loosely with aluminum foil. Rest 5 to 10 minutes then serve with salad.
- Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, honey and dill in a medium bowl then add tomatoes, cucumber and feta cheese.
- Toss gently, season to taste then refrigerate at least 20 minutes and up to a day.
Covering the frying pan with a tight-fitting lid immediately after reducing the heat to low is the single mechanical pivot point determining whether the meat dries out or retains its internal moisture during the ten to fifteen minute covered cooking window. Skeptical cooks who have watched pan-seared poultry turn rubbery often fail because they skip this precise steaming phase, which utilizes trapped ambient moisture to gently finish cooking the thickest part of the breast without scorching the exterior golden crust.
- Adapting this dish for dairy-free diets requires replacing the four ounces of feta cheese with a salted, pressed block of firm tofu crumbled to a similar texture, though the resulting salad will lack the natural pungency and high sodium content of sheep's milk cheese.
- Using honey to balance excessive citrus acidity works within a strict range of one-half to one full teaspoon, but maple syrup makes an acceptable 1:1 substitute if unrefined cane sugar options are unavailable in the pantry.
- Marinating the protein longer than two hours in the refrigerator causes the high concentration of lemon juice to denature the outer muscle fibers chemically, turning the surface mealy before it ever hits the hot oil.
- Resting the cooked poultry loosely covered under aluminum foil for five to ten minutes allows the contracted muscle proteins to relax and reabsorb redistributed juices instead of leaving them pooled across the cutting board.
Substitutions alter more than just flavor profiles, so substituting dried dill for the fresh herb requires cutting the quantity by half since dehydrated herbs concentrate grassy notes aggressively. Precise temperature control remains non-negotiable when targeting the internal benchmark of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
