Well.
It's that time of year, again, friends.
When you can finally turn the oven on and not loathe every second in your kitchen.
When the thought of a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes sounds ideal.
When cooking becomes so enjoyable, you find yourself trying to reinvent the wheel with seasonal ingredients just for the hell of it.

That's what I did here-- I'd had chicken piccata a week or so prior while at one of my favorite restaurants (our neighborhood haunt, if you will), and was taken aback by just how good it was (224 nails it, also). There, served with mashed potatoes and some sautéed spinach, got me immediately thinking of variations I could try.

And since I put kale in just about everything (whaaat?!), that was the next logical leap. The giant spaghetti squash I'd bought in a fit of autumn produce purchasing the weekend before seemed like it would compliment things nicely (it did). And luckily, I had capers on hand (from that morning I simply had to have lox). This was easy, relatively quick, and absolutely delicious.

For once, I had dinner on the table before 8PM; and with the sun starting to set a little sooner, that made all the difference.




What it's Made of:
(traditional piccata recipe adapted form Giada, here)

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken - cutlets or breasts butterflied, sliced and pounded thin
• Flour, for dredging chicken (I used white rice flour for my wheat-free buddy)
• 1/3 cup (3-4) shallots, sliced thin
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Orange/yellow bell pepper, sliced thin 
• 4 T butter
• 5 T EVOO
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 white wine (I used sauv blanc)
• Couple handfuls kale, removed from stems and torn
• 1 cup spaghetti squash, roasted (I used the microwave whole method) and pulled into strands
• 1/4 cup capers, rinsed
• Fresh parsley

How it's Made:

• Season chicken with salt and pepper, dredge lightly in flour
• Over high heat, melt 2 T butter with 2 oil in a large saucepan. Add chicken to pan by piece and brown, 3 minutes/side. 
• After chicken is browned, remove from pan and set aside
• Add the remainder of butter and oil to the pan to melt. Add shallots, garlic and peppers and sauté until soft.
• Add lemon juice, broth and wine to pan and bring to boil, scraping the pan as you go
• Reduce heat to simmer, return the chicken to the pan and cook over low heat for 5 or so minutes
• Add kale to the pan and cover
• Once the kale is wilted, toss spaghetti squash in and stir to combine
• Serve immediately, garnished with parsley (and freshly grated pecorino, if you're me)
• Nom