Chicken Piccata with Lentil Salad, Flank Steak with Horseradish Sauce

We spent the day on Long Beach yesterday and being outside for so long SERIOUSLY drains me! I'm hoping I can get all of these recipes done today and still have enough time to sit on the couch and mentally prepare me for another week of work.

I got a late start on cooking on Sunday, so I'm only posting two of the three recipes. The third I needed to use up some veggies, so I diced them all up, sauteed them in olive oil, salt and pepper, then put 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, then 1 cup veggie broth and let simmer until done. I'll bake up some fish and put it on top. nothing crazy!

Chicken Piccata with Lentil Salad
Adapted from both Cooks Illustrated and Food.com

Lentil Salad Ingredients
1 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
6 cups water
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
5 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
5 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pitted kalamata olives
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 large shallot, minced
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Ingredients for the Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded out to 1/4 inch thickness
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon drained bottled capers, rinsed and chopped

Lentil Salad (Do #1 first, then work on the chicken!)
1. Place lentils and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cover with 4 cups warm water and soak for 1 hour. While this is soaking go down to the chicken and complete that if you want to. After soak, drain well.
2. Heat oven to 325. Place drained lentils, 2 cups water, broth, garlic, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium saucepan. Cover and bake until lentils are tender but remain intact, 40 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk oil and vinegar together in large bowl.
3. Drain lentils well; remove and discard garlic and bay leaf. Add drained lentils, olives, mint and shallot to dressing and toss to combine. Sprinkle with Feta and serve with chicken.

Chicken Piccata
1. Mix the flour with the salt and pepper in a shallow pie plate. Heat half of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Working in 2 batches, place the chicken in the flour mixture and turn to coat on all sides. Shake off the excess flour and add to the skillet. Cook until lightly browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate or platter and cover loosely with foil. Repeat with the remaining oil and chicken.

2. Pour off the fat from the skillet and return the skillet to the heat. Add the chicken stock and lemon juice. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, stirring to pick up and browned bits in the bottom of the pan. Simmer for 3 minutes. Return the chicken to the skillet and simmer, turning often, until warmed through and the sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Add the butter and the capers. Season with salt and pepper and heat just until the butter has melted. Serve on warmed plates with a spoonful of the skillet sauce, topped with lemon slices and parsley.

Flank Steak with Horseradish Sauce
Adapted from whatscookingamerica.net

1 pound beef flank steak
3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce or to taste
Horseradish Sauce (see recipe below)

1. Using a sharp knife, score the surface of the flank steak with shallow diagonal cuts at 1-inch intervals, making diamond shapes. Repeat on other side of steak.

2. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and hot pepper sauce. Add prepared flank steak. Seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight, turning steaks occasionally. We have a food saver vacuum-marinater, so this took us about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350

3. Heat a large cast iron skillet on high with a little olive oil. Take the meat out of the marinade and sear on both sides (sear until it doesn't stick anymore to the pan). Then put the skillet, with meat on it, in the oven for about 5-10 minutes or done.

Horseradish Sauce:
3/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste