When Life Gives You Lemons...

Sometimes life gives you lemons. No seriously... we don't have a Trader Joe's in my hometown, so once every few months, my dad and whoever else feels like tagging along pile into his Chevy Avalanche and go to Trader Joe's, the damage of which is usually $600 dollars and WAAAY less fridge and pantry space. But hey, no complaints here, except this time my dad went a little nuts with the lemons and and we had to find something to do with them all. I thought, hey opportunity for a wine dinner knocking. So I did a lemon chicken recipe, with rice (no lemon there) and lemon and dill green beans. We had a citrusy white wine from Trader Joe's to go with it too. All in all, pretty big success.

Lemon chicken in the oven!  

The chicken we made was bone in chicken breasts with the skin still on, so it was crispy. It was marinated in lemon juice then breaded, and cooked in the oven with lemon slices to help it keep the flavor (and because it makes it look pretty) and a little water to keep it from drying out.

This is the wine we had. It's a Trader Joe's brand Pinot Gris from California. It has a ton of lemony flavor to it, so it was a really nice complement to all the lemony dishes we had. It's really tart and smooth, and in addition to the lemon, also had a little hint of pear to it.

This is Gypsy. She was a little less than thrilled when we informed her she could not participate in our wine dinner.

These are the green beans, which were sautéed in olive oil the lemon juice, dill, sea salt and ground pepper. They made the perfect complement to the chicken and the wine went with the two perfectly.

This is a plate with everything. The rice wasn't exactly glamourous, but it made a nice, richer, starchier compliment to all the light and citrusy stuff.

My dad devoured everything, then went back for seconds. He said the whole meal was the perfect combination of lemons and savory flavors. He also really liked the wine that went with it. Then again, he likes everything, so that's not saying much.

This is my sister enjoying everything, but she hates having her picture taken when she eats, hence the face.







All in all this was a great experience. I think next time I want to do a few more wines and do a fish or red meat dish. An appetizer and dessert course would also have been nice, but for a weeknight meal, I'd call this one a success.