Health Kick - Baked Chicken Parmesan

Well.  It's Monday.

I had a work event last night and it basically rained all weekend so....LUCKILY it's sunny now while I'm inside?

Awesome. 

The good news is that Jay's home for a week before leaving for another week (new job.  lots of travel.  boo.), so we're having fun being together and liking each other.  Absence made made our hearts fonder or something.

So, this chicken.  I had to wait until after vegan week to show it to you because, clearly, it's not vegan. 

It is, however, nice and light compared to regular fried chicken parm, and it's hugely flavorful.  

PLUS.  It's got bread coating so...you can kind of get away with eating it with just a salad and still feel carbed-up without eating pasta?  

You'll love this.  Promise. 

You need chicken, parmesan, panko or regular bread crumbs, cooking spray, milk, one egg, and salt.

Now, you can prep these while the oven preheats, bake them, and have this totally done in half an hour.  Or, you can coat these in advance and keep them in the fridge for a few hours - up to you!  When you do bake them, I like to do a baking rack inside of a sheet pan lined with tin foil for easy clean up.  A broiler pan would work well too!  If you do want to eat right away, preheat the oven to 425F while you prep the chicken. 

The beauty of this coating process is that we only use milk and egg white, and you can TOTALLY use skim milk - I just didn't have any. 

We'll prep the coating elements first - wet and dry.  For the egg mixture, carefully separate the white from the yolk.  Discard the yolk, and add ½ cup milk to the egg white.

OH!  Side note.  You may or may not be aware that I am fully obsessed with Rachael Ray.  I watch her daytime show after work lots of days like a nana, and the other day via this strange action I learned that when you're working with eggs you should crack them on a flat surface instead of an angular surface like the side of the sink or bowl.  That's because the angular surface can push bacteria into the egg, and ew.  So....crack eggs on your countertop please.  You're welcome for that tidbit. 

Back to the eggs!  Add 1 teaspoon salt to the egg/milk mixture...

...then use a fork or small fork to whisk the milk into the egg white.

For the crumbs, we need equal parts of parmesan and panko - ½ cup each or so should do it.  Just mix it together gently with your fingers.  

Now, dredge each piece of chicken in the milk mixture.

And pass it back and forth in the crumb mixture.  

Flip the chicken so it's evenly coated on both sides, and use your fingers to press on as much of the crumbs as you can!

Now, set the chicken on the prepared baking sheet/rack setup and finish coating the rest of them.

Before you back, spray the tops of the chicken with cooking spray or olive oil.

Bake the chicken for 7 - 10 minutes until the top starts to brown - this will depend on how hot your oven is and how thin your chicken is.  Basically, we want the outside to be browned but the chicken just barely cooked through and not dry. 

After the first side has cooked, remove the chicken from the pan, flip it, spray the second side, and stick it back in the oven until it's cooked through.  If you think your chicken is cooked through but the coating isn't brown yet, turn the broiler on for a minute or so to crisp the cheese and the crumbs.

That's it, guys!  Flavorful, lovely chicken without frying.  I promise you'll love this - I ate it plain!

You could of course serve this with pasta, extra cheese, and sauce, but I found that just the chicken with some marinara (and boxed wine, duh) was plenty of food.  Especially when I ate half of it with my fingers. 

Enjoy this one!

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 Submitted to Weekend Potluck, my favorite ever recipe sharing gig, hosted by:

• The Country Cook~ Brandie
• The Better Baker ~ Marsha
• Sunflower Supper Club ~ Kim & Julie
• 4 Little Fergusons~ Tonya
• Mommy Time Party ~ Tabitha