Lemon Chicken with Asparagus

I have been wanting to buy a cast iron skillet for a while. They are so versatile, and I feel like it is an item that will last forever so that I can gift it to my daughter someday – which was a great reason to purchase one… See how I justified spending money there?

Cast iron is a great conductor of heat, so it cooks very evenly. You really are not even supposed to “clean”, clean it. A well-seasoned skillet just creates more flavor. Season it with fat and clean it gently after use. Never use an abrasive brush or soak it in water, especially if it is still hot.

With my new kitchen tool in hand, I was excited to make a dish that used chicken in a different way and included a serving of vegetables. We eat quite a bit of chicken in our house. It is on the menu, in some form or another, virtually every week. Chicken is a great source of lean protein and a blank canvas for many recipes.

This particular dish has been a long time coming. I tried it a few different ways over the past month and not until the third or fourth try was I happy with the outcome. In the end, it just tasted better with chicken breasts and I added a sauce made the traditional way – with a little butter and flour (trust me, it is worth it).

As promised, we are using one pan to do the heavy lifting in this recipe, which is fitting because cast iron is pretty heavy. The flavors are bright, the vegetables are cooked right in, and the garlic and lemon sauce is divine. I added a creamy touch to the sauce with cream cheese, but you could easily substitute with heavy cream or whole milk. My family feels that every dish should have a sauce, and I can’t say I disagree. A sauce really adds a lot of flavor and can elevate your meal.

We have had this dinner with a side of roasted potatoes or rice, both worked well. It is also quite good cold – we made it into chicken salad sandwiches one day and they were fantastic. One of the beauties of recipe testing is that we often have leftovers and find ourselves re-purposing dishes. Please enjoy this quick, week-night meal!