Cooking . . . It's a Family Thing!

CHICKEN PARMESAN
Prep Time: 20 min
Cook Time: 37 min

Ingredients:

• 4 Slices Whole Wheat Bread
• 1 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 4 heaping teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup skim milk (or whatever you use)
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 4 (6 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2" thickness
• Cooking spray
• 1 jar good quality marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 T (1/2 ounce) shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the bread in food processor and process until fine crumbs are formed. Put the crumbs on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden. Let cool. In a medium bowl, toss crumbs with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, 1/4 t salt & 1/4 t pepper. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and milk together. In a third bowl stir together the flour and remaining 1/4 t salt and 1/4 pepper. Dip each chicken piece, 1 piece at a time, in the flour, shaking off excess, then egg, then bread crumbs, shaking off excess. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place breaded chicken on baking sheet and spray each side with cooking spray, about 5 seconds total per side. Bake breasts until cooked through and crumbs are browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer chicken to a baking dish with sides. Top with marinara sauce, mozzarealla and parmesan cheeses and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

CAESAR SALAD

Ingredients:

• Romaine Lettuce
• Caesar Salad Dressing (I used a bottled dressing, Kraft)
• Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Croutons (make your own or use store bought)

Directions:

Wash & dry your lettuce and tear into pieces. Place into a bowl and refrigerate until lettuce is chilled. Once it has chilled, remove from fridge and add dressing, cheese and croutons. Add as much or as little as you like (no measurements here). Toss to combine and serve. Now I know this isn't a true Caesar Salad as I didn't use anchovies and did not make my own dressing but it was good and I had all these ingredients at home!

I prepared the brown rice according to the directions on the bag. However, instead of water I used chicken stock that I had made earlier from the carcass of a rotisserie chicken I bought last week from Food Lion. This made a huge difference in the taste of the rice!