Chicken Breast with Mustard Sauce

I'm providing you with yet another chicken recipe that is incredibly easy and fast, yet tastes semi-gourmet. The sauce is the highlight of the dish, and takes about three minutes to prepare. If you serve it up with some lightly sauteed seasonal veggies, this can be a year-round weeknight dinner.

This sauce is tangy with a hint of sweetness from the honey, a whisper of wine and a bit of spice from grainy mustard. It thickens up quickly in the pan and dinner is ready in no time.

A couple of notes - I was generous with the chicken quantity here. Normally I take one large chicken breast half and cut it horizontally in half so we have two cutlets. Tonight I went the full monty and did two chicken breast halves. If you prefer to go lighter on the meat, just do one chicken breast half divided in two, but don't reduce the amount of the sauce.

Secondly, don't worry if a lot of the panko coating is lost in the pan while you're cooking the chicken - it will get picked up in the sauce and make it that much more delicious.

Chicken Breast with Mustard Sauce
adapted from Williams-Sonoma Eat Well
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
salt and freshly ground pepper
3/4 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon good quality honey
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pound chicken to an even thickness and season with salt and pepper. Dredge in the panko to coat well. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and reduce heat to medium. Cook until chicken is golden on both sides and cooked through, about 5-6 minutes per side.

2. Transfer chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Add wine, broth, and honey to the pan and raise heat to bring to a boil. Scrape up any browned bits from the pan bottom. Cook sauce until it reduces to about 1/3 cup, 2 or 3 minutes. Stir in mustard until dissolved into sauce. Spoon over chicken and serve.

Enjoy!