Recipe: Parmesan Crusted Chicken

This first recipe posting is in honor of my love for Italian Food and my journey to find ways of having Italian without Gluten.

I have to thank Rachael Ray for her love for easy-quick meals because I got this recipe from her and am addicted. This Parmesan Chicken is easy to make and I've found 3 different ways to serve this one chicken recipe. Learn how to make this chicken and people will think you're a gourmet chef.

Chicken Ingredients/Tools:

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Course pepper
• 2 cups shredded (not grated) Parmesan, I've found that the Kraft Shredded Parm Next to the grated is the hardest, you need to make sure it's not too soft or it will melt
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets. I find the fillets to work best because you can really taste of the Crusty Parm when you eat the chicken
• Wax Paper

How To:

1. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. You want to make sure the pan is very got when the chicken is added so that Parm gets crusty quickly and doesn't melt into the pan.

2. Pull out 2 feet of wax paper and pile the 2 cups of Parmesan on the wax paper

3. Season both sides of each chicken breast or fillet with pepper

4. Firm press the chicken into the Parmesan Cheese and coat both sides of the chicken with as much cheese as possible

5. Add 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil to the skillet to coat the pan

6. Set chicken in the skillet, and for chicken breasts cook until cheese is golden, about 6 - 7 minutes on each side, for chicken fillets they only need about 3 - 4 minutes on each side.

Tip - sometimes the parm falls off the top of the chicken when you put it in the skillet, so I like to pat some more parm onto the uncooked side of the chicken before I flip it. Make sure you don't try to add parm to the side of the chicken that's been cooked (I probably don't need to say that).

Now that you know how to make the chicken here are your three meal options.

Meal Option 1: Pasta Option with Tomato and Basil Mixture (you can actually have this mixture anytime you make the chicken)

Tomato Basil Mix Ingredients:

• 4 plum Roma tomatoes or small, vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 15 to 20 leaves fresh basil, pile leaves, roll then thinly slice

How To:

1. Combine tomatoes and basil into a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

2. Make yourself some gluten free pasta - my favorite is Tinkyada Fusilli - it is the closest I can remember to wheat pasta and has a good consistency (would need to start before you make the chicken)

3. Once the chicken and pasta are complete toss the chicken, tomato-basil mixture, into the pasta with a little EVOO, and if you have it, fresh mozzarella.

Meal Option 2: Lite Caesar Salad

Doesn't get much easier than making the chicken, picking up some Romaine lettuce, tossing the two together and dressing them with some gluten free Caesar dressing.

I've found Marie's Parmesan Caesar Yogurt Dressing to be wonderful and it is 1/2 the fat. Hence, the lite in front of Caesar Salad (plus there are no croutons, unless you have found some GF ones you would like to add).

Now, most Caesar Salads don't have tomatoes in them, but I LOVE tomatoes so I have made the tomato-basil mixture above and added it to the salad.

Meal Option 3: Eat the chicken alone as a balanced meal with a starch and a vegetable

I have found that this chicken goes best with broccoli (broccolini is my favorite) or asparagus. I tend to make fingerling or little red new potatoes as my starch. Just pick your favorite sides and you'll be in heaven because the chicken is that good!