Chicken and Mushrooms with Arugula Salad

It seems that there is such a thing as too much take-out, so Maggie Klimentova tries to wedge the occasional home-cooked meal into her schedule. At just over $8 for the chicken dish and about $1.50 for the salad ingredients, she turned out dinner for under $10 per serving. Read Maggie’s story here.

Maggie’s plate: chicken with creamy mushrooms and arugula salad. Photo: Kiley Bense.

Chicken with Creamy Mushrooms (from Real Simple)

4 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil
8 small chicken cutlets (1 1/2 pounds total)
salt and pepper
1 lb mushrooms
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 oz. fresh goat cheese
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in batches until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to plates.
Add the mushrooms and remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook, tossing occasionally, until tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
Stir in the heavy cream, goat cheese, parsley, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Serve over the chicken.

Arugula Salad

5 oz. arugula
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 half red onion
1 tomato
salt and pepper
olive oil

Chop the tomato and onion and toss with the arugula. Add salt, pepper and olive oil. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the salad. Stir and serve.

Nutritional information:

One serving of chicken: about 500 calories
One serving of salad: About 80 calories
The whole meal, per serving, contains 35 grams carbohydrates, 36 grams fat, 52 grams protein, 301 grams sodium, 3 grams sugar.

[These are not cookbook recipes. Some home cooks work from written recipes, but many know their favorite dishes by heart, or improvise on the spot, or define a home-cooked meal as take-out put on a plate. We offer these as a closer look at what our 12 New Yorkers had for dinner, whether it was a set of traditional recipes, or take-out, or even a sandwich consumed first thing in the morning.]

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