Honey-Lemon Chicken with Wasabi Avocado Cream Sauce
A delightful balance of sweet and tart flavors, this Honey Lemon chicken with caramelized lemon slices and olives is served with a spicy Wasabi Avocado Cream Sauce and asparagus for a flavor-packed, low carb dinner you and your family will delight over.
*This post was first published in February 2015. It has since been updated with pictures and content and id being re-published today.
In late February of 2015, temperatures that hovered around 20 Degrees Fahrenheit (-6 C) made it hard for me to do anything outside for an extended period of time!
A 20 minute walk around the block with the dogs becomes a 10 minute power walk; trash isn’t walked to the curb – it is sprinted to it; and, I am hoping that the wind I count on to blow my driveway for me, will magically blow away the bits and pieces of the rose bushes I trimmed 2 months ago as well!
But, this cold weather has made it easy for my daughter and I to stick to our old Friday night tradition of catching up on movies we have on our Netflix “to-be-watched” list (which in 2020 is still a tradition for us ~ time permitting).
One movie we both fell in love with after watching the trailer, was Big Hero 6!
It was so hard not to fall head over heals for the completely guileless, kind and compassionate, disease-diagnosing, and, warm and marshmallowy “Baymax” – who was the invention of “Tadashi” {besides, how could I not love something made by someone that rhymes with Shashi-right?! 🙂
While the movie is marketed as “an original action-comedy-adventure“, the bond formed between Baymax and Hiro (the teen star of the movie who is Tadashi’s brother), tugged at my heart strings with it’s lessons in helpfulness and self-sacrifice as Baymax helps unite Hiro’s diverse group of friends: Go Go, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred—to band together to fight the evil that lurks in “San Fransokyo“.
As our movie nights (then and now) involve food of some sort; this time, I decided I would prepare something that would pay homage to some of the characters in the movie…and… this Honey-Lemon Chicken with Wasabi Avocado cream sauce was the result.
When I first made this dish, I also made some vanilla infused rice to go with it. It was winter, and comforting carbs paired so well with the honey lemon chicken with caramelized lemon and olives.
But, with temperatures warming up for us here in late May of 2020, I opted to make some of this garlic asparagus to pair with the Honey Lemon Chicken.
This time around, my daughter made the wasabi cream sauce and figured that she was better at mushing the avocado than a blender was and so our wasabi avocado cream sauce was a tad bit lumpy. She also decided to double the quantity of wasabi and I felt like my nose was on fire when I sneaked a taste!
Now, this recipe title is a mouthful – but, it is alot easier (and quicker) to make than to say!
Let’s have this Honey Lemon Chicken Dinner Done in < 40 minutes!
...On Your Mark, Get Set – GO!
1) Put the rice into a pan and bring to a boil (if serving with rice ~ if not, skip to step 4).
2) While waiting for the rice to come to a boil, chop the onions, garlic and lemon and set a pan on the stove on a medium flame with some olive oil in it.
3) Cut the vanilla pod open and scrape the vanilla beans into the boiling rice. Lower the flame on the rice, cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
4) Then, over a stove top set to medium heat, saute the onions and garlic in a heavy bottomed pan with the olive oil for about 5 minutes – stirring constantly, add the lemon slices and let cook for 5 more minutes, then flip them over. Then add in the lemon juice and honey.
5) Season the chicken with paprika, salt, and pepper and add it to the lemon/onions/garlic/honey mix and let cook till brown – about 8 minutes.
6) Take the rice off the heat and keep covered (if serving with rice).
7) Flip the chicken over and add water and olives and cover and let cook for about 8 minutes.
8) Cut strips of the vanilla pod to decorate the rice with (if serving with rice).
9) Cut the avocado and add it to a blender with the yogurt, wasabi and milk and blend well.
10) Make rice mounds using a bowl to resemble Baymax and decorate with strips of vanilla pod and olives – and refrain from digging into the vanilla infused rice as it smells wonderful (if serving with rice)!
11) Uncover the chicken and let it simmer about 5 minutes so water is absorbed completely
12) Add chicken to plates with Baymax-rice or asparagus, drizzle the wasabi-avocado cream sauce or serve it on the side ~ and dinner is done!
From Prep to Plate to Belly in less than 40 minutes!
While the Honey-Lemon Chicken and the Wasabi Avocado Cream Sauce and the Vanilla Infused Rice taste wonderful on their own and can be used with other sides and mains, together, (just like in the movie), they balance each other off wonderfully!
Ingredients
FOR THE VANILLA INFUSED RICE:
- 1/2 inch piece of a vanilla pod
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup Basmati rice
FOR THE HONEY-LEMON CHICKEN:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 lemon sliced
- 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 free range chicken breasts
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 5 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup water
- 2/3 cup black olives
FOR THE WASABI AVOCADO CREAM SAUCE:
- 1/2 avocado
- 4 teaspoons plain yogurt
- 1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste can use more fora spicier sauce
- 2-3 teaspoons coconut milk
- splash of lemon juice and salt to taste
Instructions
FOR THE VANILLA INFUSED RICE:
- Add the rice to the water in a pan and bring to a boil.
- Scrape vanilla beans off the piece of vanilla pod and drop into rice.
- Cover, turn down flame and let simmer for 15 minutes.
- Cut the vanilla pod into strips to decorate later.
FOR THE HONEY-LEMON CHICKEN:
- Saute the onion, and garlic with the olive oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan for 5 minutes, over medium heat/temp stove-top.
- Add the lemon slices and let cook for 5 more minutes. Then flip them over and let cook 2 more minutes.
- Season the chicken with the salt, pepper, and paprika and add to the pan and let cook till browned – about 8 minutes.
- Flip the chicken over and add water, lemon juice, olives, and cover and let cook for about 8-10 minutes on a low flame
- Uncover the chicken and let it simmer about 3 minutes so water is absorbed completely. When this happens, stir well so you get any brown parts on the bottom of the pan. Then take off hot stove and set aside until ready to plate.
FOR THE WASABI-AVOCADO CREAM SAUCE:
- Add the avocado, yogurt, wasabi paste and milk to a blender and blend till well incorporated. Then add a splash of lemon juice and salt to taste.
TO SERVE:
- Make the rice into mounds using a small bowl and decorate with strips of vanilla pod and olives to resemble Baymax
- Serve Chicken drizzled with wasabi-avocado cream sauce onto the plate and enjoy!
Very nice lemon chicken, love sauce
Thanks so much Swathi!
YUM!! This looks incredible!! And it is full of ingredients that i know and love!!
We haven’t seen that movie – the boys didn’t act interested in it:(
Have a great weekend, Shashi!
Thanks Kim – this was a wonderful dinner – I hate to say it – the first time I made it for a “taste test” my daughter stood there and finished the whole thing!!!
Hope your week is wonderful!
That chicken is beautiful. What a lovely tradition to watch movies together after a spectacular meal like this one. I miss having children around.
Thanks Maureen – you know, I don’t know what I am gonna do when she goes off to college – movie night will have to be rescheduled!
Great job, Shashi! A comforting dish to enjoy in these super chilly days. I am looking forward to watching the movie with my girls.
Thanks so much Denise!
Ahh how cute is this big hero dish!! Um vanilla rice — yes please!! (I haven’t seen the movie but I’ve heard good things.) This looks delicious, and I now have a serious olive craving — your photos have a way of doing that to me 🙂 Stay warm!!
Haha – sorry lady – I hope you can scrape yourself out of that frozen igloo and dig into a store to find some olives and vanilla and rice – cos they sure will warm you up!
Hoping you are staying warm too, Charlotte!
I’ve heard amazing things about Big Hero 6! And oh, you are so lucky to have -6. I jumped for joy when I saw that it was only -13 yesterday and even took the opportunity to go for a walk haha! I’m not complaining as long as it isn’t the horrible -20s we got last week. That wasabi avocado cream sauce sounds incredible! I can only imagine how delicious the vibrancy of the wasabi is with the creaminess of the avocado… yum!
Genevieve I couldn’t help marveling at your ability to eat an ice cream cone outside with your temps in the negatives! I don’t think you could pay me to do that! 🙂
Btw – thanks so much!
oh my gosh woman, avocado cream sauce? you know the way to my heart! i’d lick that plate clean
Guess what? -We did! 😉
Thanks oodles Lindsay!
We watched Big Hero 6 a week ago only 🙂 The chicken looks so tempting. Adding the lemon definitely must have enhanced the flavor of the chicken when paired with honey and Wasabi Avocado cream sauce.
Thanks so much Shibi – yes you are correct – the lemon, chicken, honey, wasabi and avocado worked together so perfectly!
Shashi, we loved Big Hero 6!!!! We’ve already seen it 3 times and will definitely be getting the DVD! love what you did here!!! so creative!!! love it!
It was a wonderful movie indeed! Thanks Alice!
All of those flavors! holy moly! And that vanilla rice….YUM!
Thanks so much Rebecca 🙂
Whoa. This one’s a knock-out Shashi! Looks like a flavor explosion!!!
Thanks bunches Marissa!
That is a mouthful! I bet the food would be more of a mouthful than the title! I’m not the biggest fan of olives, so I might omit those but wow everything else appears to be super flavor packed! I especially love food with an infusion of vanilla, it’s such a great flavor.
Thanks Chris! That vanilla infused rice was pretty fantastic! The olives are optional, but, can be easily substituted too! Hope your week is going well!
Everything about this dish sounds absolutely amazing and delicious! Yay for Big Hero 6 🙂 Pinned!
Thanks so much Mira!
Thank you for breaking this down and making it look way less scary… I get anxious when I see long titles and am like “oh s*** this is so long and will take forever to cook but looks so good” and boy was I WRONG!!! Can you share some of your kitchen creativity skills/photography skills/cooking skills with me?? xo
You are so sweet – I am bowled over by your kind compliment – thank you so much Cassandra!
What a fun and tasty dish you created Shashi. I love everything about it, especially the wasabi-avocado sauce.
Have a great weekend my friend!
Thanks so much Mike – that wasabi – avocado sauce was fun making – of course, it was more fun watching my daughter’s facial expressions when there was too much wasabi in it! 🙂
Hope your week is going well my friend!
Those rice mounds are adorable – love the flavors in this!
Thanks so much Sam!