Paige Brown enjoys cooking but finds little time to indulge in her passion for food. Nonetheless, she recently received news of her first contest win: a Dream Dinners recipe competition.

Dream Dinners is one of several local make-your-own-entree establishments. Mrs. Brown visits the business once every two months, making a dozen dinners at a time to freeze for later when she needs to get dinner on the table at home.

With two children, Davis, 13, and Katie, 10, afternoon hours are spent taking them to lacrosse, dance, gymnastics, Scouts and other activities.

“Our busiest time of day is in the afternoon,” leaving little time for dinner preparation, Mrs. Brown said. “If I can cook something without having to do all the prep work, we canactually eat at home.”

Last summer, she relied on her grill, a package of chicken breasts, lemon and one of her favorite cooking tools — a citrus zester — to satisfy her family.

“I love kitchen gadgets, and sometimes I use a lemon zester at Dream Dinners, so I got one for home,” she said. “I had some lemons, and I had my new grater, and I had a free Saturday afternoon.”

She began experimenting with the recipe, adding some ingredients and taking some away. Around the same time, she received an e-mail from Dream Dinners announcing the contest. By then, her lemony chicken recipe had become a family favorite, so she sent it in.

Liz Davenport, co-owner of the Chattanooga Dream Dinners franchise, said the contest was open to anyone who visited the Dream Dinners Web site. There’s a winner every other month in the ongoing contest, but Mrs. Brown’s win is a first for a Chattanooga client. Her recipe for Garden Tarragon Chicken will be a featured dish for July. Also on the list of suggested entree choices is one from Emeril Lagasse.

“Paige shares a tremendous honor being on the specials menu with Emeril,” Mrs. Davenport said.

Mrs. Brown’s chicken dish has just 10 ingredients, all but one of which are marinade fixings.

“It’s a nice combination of flavors,” Mrs. Davenport said. “It’s light and fresh and simple.”

Mrs. Brown won a gift certificate for $150 from the local franchise, as well as a lemonade/drink set with tray, pitcher and glasses from the Dream Dinners corporation. Her recipe follows.

During July, you can visit Dream Dinners to make it yourself, along with Emeril’s Fish Provencal or any of a dozen dinners offered each month.

Garden Tarragon Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon tarragon

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2/3 cup rice vinegar

Place chicken breasts in resealable bag. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Allow to marinate for several hours or overnight. Remove chicken from marinade and discard marinade. Place on grill heated to medium and grill till breasts are tender and cooked through.

E-mail Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com.

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