Chicken Parmigiana

In the Martha Stewart Living February 2010 magazine there is a recipe for a lighter version of chicken parmigiana. Of course, since I am only cooking for two and live in a dorm I modified this recipe slightly. Instead of using chicken breast halves, I used chicken breast tenders, which cooked a bit faster and gave each of us three strips that roughly equaled one chicken breast.

To bread the chicken I crushed up about 10 garlic flavored Triscuits (I would recommend using more, we learned the hard way) by piling between layers of plastic wrap and then transfering to a bowl. Then I added a half a teaspoon of fresh oregano, but the recipe calls for dried, I just had it on hand. Then to that mixture I added flat leaf parsley, but since we could not find any fresh, we bought a tube of parsley.

In a separate bowl I added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, small onion chopped in small bits, and 2 garlic cloves minced. I set this aside.

In one bowl I cracked one egg, and made a dregging station, setting the chicken on a plate at one end, then the egg, then the breading, and finally the baking dish. I coated the chicken lightly with egg and then coated the chicken lightly with the breading, and finally placed it in the baking dish.
The chicken cooked fast at a 425 degree oven, taking only eight minutes. I pulled the chicken out and then spooned the sauce over the chicken. I took a fresh ball of mozarella cheese and cut it in disc and layered carefully over each piece of chicken.

After 10-15 in the oven, the cheese was melted and the sauce bubbling.

We paired the chicken with rigatoni.

I have about a cup and a half of sauce left over which I am planning on freezing because I will be away this weekend.

a simple pair

A lemon and garlic sitting on my book shelf. I've been musing about what recipe I could use these two ingredients. Pasta, chicken, salad, or bread are the things I've thought. If I crush the garlic and add it to extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and toss in warm pasta. Or I could crush the garlic and rub on chicken (either in pieces or a whole chicken), and then squeeze the lemon juice on top, and/or cut in half and put into the chicken cavity. I could make a garlicky lemon vinaigrette dressing, and finally make a lemon garlic infused oil to drizzle over toasted french bread.

Superbowl Party

It's been a few days since the Superbowl, but I wanted to share with you the yummy dip I made for the Superbowl party we attended.

I found a recipe for a 7 layer dip, however after I decided that two layers were uncalled for (crushed tortilla chips and shredded lettuce) it ended up a nice 5 layer mexican dip.

In a 9" round cake pan, I spread a can of vegetarian refried beans (a healthy choice without animal fat)

then half a jar of salsa, depending upon your liking of salsa, then a layer of guacamole (I made it fresh with two avacados and a store bought guacamole seasoning packet, plus some lime juice), followed by a layer of sour cream and a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese.

I served the dip along side Tostitos scoops. I believe the dip was gone before the game even started. I wasn't sure if people would enjoy it, and I think next time I will double the recipe and either use two cake pans and bring one out half way through the party, or make it in a larger dish.