Calamansi basil chicken with garlic parmesan brussels sprouts

My daughter is the biggest foodie in our family and she is constantly hungry. I can't blame her because I take her to every food event and her palette has grown over the years. She really won't settle for just any snack, especially on her days off from school. McDonalds and fast food isn't really her thing and she'd rather go to a food truck. But today was a great day...according to her. "Daddy, can you make me something!" OK, so what can I make for this little foodie that wouldn't take forever. I had some chicken breast thawing in the refrigerator and some brussels sprouts that I just picked up from the market. Luckily for me, our family isn't big on rice so it was perfect. But, she's all about flavors so I had to add a bit of kick to the chicken and do something with the brussels sprouts. 

So the plan was simple...make a nice pre-workout lunch for the both of us, take some photos, and presto...blog post! It wasn't really my intention to make a blog post out of our lunch together but why not. So off she went to play Wii and back to the kitchen for me.

 

The ingredients were simple, and  I was limited since I didn't do my grocery shopping yet.

2 skinless chicken breasts (serves 2)

1 lb of brussels sprouts...ok...a couple of handfuls to be exact!

dried basil leaves

garlic powder

fresh parmesan

extra virgin olive oil

fresh calamansi

salt 

pepper

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Directions

First I tenderize the chicken. All chicken whether whole or pieces should be put into a large bowl or a clean sink with cold water and a 1/2 a cup of salt. Leave for 20 minutes to half an hour and then rinse the chicken or chicken pieces well. This not only kills any bacteria on the chicken, but also tenderizes it. Drain your liquids and coat your breasts with olive oil. Next season with salt, pepper and dried basil leaves. Lastly, squeeze your fresh calamansi over your chicken. Save some calamansi  for later...you might want a bit more zing. Make sure you preheat your oven to 350. Now in a oven safe skillet, brown both sides of your breasts in a tbsp of olive oil at medium heat for about 5 min per side. After browning, finish your chicken in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Make sure your internal temp is at 160 degrees.

Now for the brussels sprouts. Wash the brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a few pinches of grated parmesan. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet on medium. Place the brussels sprouts flat side down for 5 minutes or until your edges have a slight browning. Next toss them in the skillet to get a little browning on the round side. I like them a bit bitter, and the more you cook them, the less bitter they become. Finally, take them off the heat and plate immediately. 

I'm sure there are more ways to cook the brussels sprouts but this was pretty simple and my dining partner definitely loved what she was eating. She took a few of breaks in between her Wii tennis match to sneak in a couple of bites. After taking a few bites myself, I started to offload pictures from my digital camera. I wasn't paying attention to my daughter but I knew that she wasn't playing her game. She couldn't be napping. I walked over to the table and she was munching away at our lunch. Was I mad, of course not. According to her, it was the best lunch she had ever had!

My dining partner