Pecan Crusted Chicken & Asparagus

Well if you can't tell, I have been on a low carb diet for a few weeks now. I don't ever get way too serious about it but I do generally like to stick to a smaller amount of carbs. This means protein, protein, protein! This week I have decided to make pecan crusted chicken with asparagus. I got recipes for both from the internet and modified them. The chicken came from dianaskitchen.com and the asparagus came from simplyrecipes.com. I'm going to start with the chicken, then the asparagus and pictures. Here we go!

Pecan Crusted Chicken:
1 cup ground pecans
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon basil
Juice of 1 sm. lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Bonless Chicken Breast...I used 2 but I think you could probably make up to 4 with the mixture.

Directions:
In a lg. shallow dish mix the pecans, cheese, garlic salt, and basil. I also used some white pepper and mixed it here as well.
Put the lemon juice in another shallow dish.
Dip the chicken in the lemon juice, then coat in the pecan mixture. Make sure and get the chicken coated well.
Cook chicken over medium or medium high heat for about 3-5 minutes on each side. Make sure you use a non-stick pan or use a non-stick spray.

Simple right? It really is quick and easy. If you want the mixture to stick to the chicken a little better I would suggest using an egg and mixing some lemon juice in with it. Okay, now on to the side item!

Asparagus:
1 lg bunch of asparagus (basically, however much you want)
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon lemon zest (use the lemon you juiced for the chicken)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Rinse off the asparagus and cut the bottom a couple of inches up so that a fresh part shows at the bottom.
Cut into 1 or 2 inch pieces. You could also do them whole, which is what I did. Either way it will taste similar.
Fill a medium saucepan about half way full with water and bring to a boil.
Add the asparagus and reduce to a simmer. You will only need to boil the asparagus for about 2 or 3 minutes!
Drain the hot water.
While still hot toss the asparagus in a bowl with the olive oil, lemon, cheese, and salt and pepper.

Pictures: I'm having trouble with the pictures, but I did manage to get one up. Here is the finished plate!

Results:
I LOVED it! The chicken was very good. The pecan crust gave it a crunchy texture without very many carbs. The lemon juice gave some flavor as well. The asparagus were very good. I was excited to find a way to eat asparagus without drenching them in butter. The olive oil mixture was very good!

I gave it a 10! Yay! My first 10. I will definitely make this meal again.

Dillon gave it a 9.5! He said he loved it, but just has to be stubborn and hold out for a true "10". I told him he should have been an olympic judge! haha

Then there's the dog, Red. He loved the chicken but was just not having the asparagus! He's not much of a vegetable eater I suppose.

All in all we had a great meal! Give it a try! I'm anxious for someone to try something and see if it turns out the same way or not.