Cowboy Butter Chicken with Zucchini Noodles

Apparently cowboy butter is a thing? I never knew, but I am glad I gave this recipe a try! Super light tasting and packed with all the flavor. It was a refreshing change to the typical meal prep recipes I try out too. This is a 15 minute one-skillet recipe once you have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go. I ended up doing 4 batches of this recipe though, so this took a little longer for me. If you don't own a sprializer or are short on time then you can almost always find pre-spiralized zucchini at the grocery store. I ended up spiralizing mine the night before and that actually allowed me to drain out the excessive water a little better. I also paired this with some sweet potato glass noodles to get my carb source in and I loved that combo. Even if you don't try this for meal prep this is definitely a great recipe to have on hand for a quick meal to whip up. I'll definitely be saving this one to make again soon. 

Cowboy Butter Chicken with Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless, cut into strips
• 3 or 4 medium zucchinis
• 4 tablespoons ghee, divided (or grass-fed butter)
• Juice and zest of half a lemon
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 cup (60ml) low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon Frank's Red Hot Original hot sauce 
• 2 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped chives
• 2 teaspoons minced thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon slices, for garnish

Directions:

1. In a large bowl or shallow plate, season and combine chicken strips with salt, and pepper. Set aside.
2. Wash and trim the ends of the zucchini. Make the zucchini noodles using a spiralizer or a julienne peeler. Set aside in a salad bowl.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once melted, add the chicken strips in one layer and cook for one minute without stirring.
4. Add minced garlic, and red chili pepper flakes then stir up the chicken strips to cook on the other side for a couple of minutes, until almost cooked through. Remove from the skillet and set aside to a plate. Make sure not to overcook chicken at this time – otherwise, it could dry up.
5. In the same skillet, melt 3 remaining tablespoons butter, then stir in lemon juice and zest, Dijon mustard, hot sauce, cayenne, paprika, and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.
6. Stir in the fresh parsley, chopped chives, and minced thyme, then add the zucchini noodles and toss for 2 or 3 minutes, until zucchini are cooked through and the sauce has reduced a bit (zucchini will render some water). Return the cooked chicken strips back to the pan and cook for another minute. Serve your cowboy butter chicken with zucchini noodles immediately, garnished with more herbs, red chili pepper flakes, and lemon slices. Enjoy!

Notes:

1. Zucchini tends to render a lot of water when cooking, so you can sprinkle with salt after spiralizing and allow to sit for a couple of minutes to take off excess water. Rinse well to get rid of salt and drain thoroughly in a colander before cooking.
2. You can buy pre-spiralized zucchini and sliced chicken breast in your grocery store, prepping will be even faster!

Original recipe found here