Creamy Citrus Chicken Alfredo

 

I got a little crazy with the amount of sauce I put on this plate didn't I?  

Spring is officially here and I can wait no longer for super fresh clean meals!  The kids and I have planted our herb garden and if it stops raining long enough, we are going to plant our vegetable garden this weekend!  I absolutely love this time of year!  The pride that I feel when I have cooked a meal for my family that its grown 100% by our own hands is like nothing else.  With that said, you can expect to see plenty of recipes using fresh herbs in the very near future!

Now that I have gushed a bit about Spring and my gardens, lets get back to our Creamy Citrus Chicken Alfredo. I've given my plain ole' Alfredo sauce a serious health benefit makeover by added a bit of lemon juice and fresh basil.  Did you know lemon is thought to promote detoxification, concentration, relaxation, fresh breath as well as many other beneficial properties?  Basil is known for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and decongestant properties plus so much more!  Rest assured that this recipe will make your entire body completely happy.

I suggest marinating your chicken breasts overnight so that the acid from the lemon juice has time to do its tenderizing magic.  The more marinating time the better, I think.  When it was finally time for me to grill my chicken, I found myself in the middle of a super nasty, rainy day.  No worries!  I decided to make a huge mess and grill the chicken on my stovetop.  If you can ignore the splattered oily mess this method creates,  I actually like it better because you can dump the marinade over the chicken and let it sit saturated in the oil and other ingredients as it cooks.  I'm not sure if this adds a more intense flavor to the chicken, but I certainly like to think it does. 

Creamy Citrus Chicken Alfredo

written by Rebecca Lane

 

Ingredients for Maranade:

• Juice of 1 Lemons
• 3 TBSP Avocado Oil
• 1 TBSP Garlic; minced
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp Fresh Cracked Pepper
• 1/2 tsp fresh Basil
• 2 Chicken Breast

Ingredients for Zucchini noodles and Sauce:

• 2 zucchini; sliced into noodles
• 2 TBSP Ghee
• Juice of 2 Lemons
• 1 TBSP Garlic
• 1/2 cup Full Fat Coconut Cream
• 2 tsp Fresh Basil

Here's what ya do:

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a zip lock bag and refrigerate over night.

   2. Melt ghee over medium heat.  Sautee garlic until fragrant; about 30 seconds.
   3.  Stirs in fresh squeezed lemon juice, coconut milk, basil and salt and pepper.  Continue cooking over a medium heat until a gentle boil begins. Boil for approximately 4 minutes or until sauce thickens and reduces by half.

    4.  Toss zucchini noodles into the same skillet as your sauce.  Stir noodles to completely coat.  Simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until zucchini becomes softened.

    5.  Meanwhile, remove chicken from zip lock bag and grill until fully cooked. 

    6.  Enjoy!