lightening a family favorite

I was going through my stash of recipes recently and came across one of my favorites. It's a dish I made for a family birthday not long after we were first married and the recipe has become a family favorite. It's one of my fallback recipes when I can't think of what to make for a dinner party.

The recipe is Chicken Parmesan with Basil Sauce, but in our family, we call it "Chicken in Pajamas". Unlike the American version of Chicken Parmesan, the sauce in this dish is a creamy basil sauce which is served on the side so that people can help themselves. The downside with this dish though, is it's not very "waist-friendly" (read: loads of calories). But, it tastes so good....

With summer fast approaching and everyone watching what they eat, I decided to lighten up the recipe while still keeping the same flavors. It's a gamble that I am proud to say, really worked. The original sauce was a delicious warm creamy sauce but was somewhat temperamental (it had a tendency to curdle if you weren't careful), so I've gone with a cool sauce, keeping it light by using low-fat products but still with the punch of basil flavor. I'm confident it will become a favorite in your repertoire.

For the Inspiration for this issue - Waiting for Summer, I kept things on the "light" and easy theme but not skimping on flavor. It's the perfect menu for entertaining this time of the year.