Jason and I have been trying to eat healthier foods but I've found that a lot of foods that are healthy are no fun to eat. I decided to go to the bookstore on a mission to find a cookbook with decent healthy recipes. I found The Best Light Recipes cookbook which is a Cooks Illustrated cookbook. I already have The New Best Recipes cookbook and absolutely love it and use it all the time so why not get one with light recipes.
This Chicken Parm recipe is the first recipe I tried from this book and it was so delicious. Even my extremely picky husband loved it. When I put dinner on the table I didn't tell him that it was a light recipe because I just knew he wasn't going to like it if he knew it wsa healthy. After he tasted it, he gave it two thumbs up so I felt safe to tell him it was a low fat dish. Since making it the first time he has requested it several other times. It's a winner in my house and I hope it is in yours too.
Ingredients:
Chicken Parmesan:
1 1/2 Cups panko
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 Cup flour
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and ground pepper
3 large eggs whites
1 Tbsp water
vegetable oil spray
3 large chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, and sliced into cutlets
1 recipe Simple Tomato Sauce (or 2 Cups of plain jar tomato sauce)
3 ounces mozzarella, low-fat
1 Tbsp basil, minced
Simple Tomato Sauce:
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp olive oil
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp basil, minced
Salt and pepper
Direction:
Simple Tomato Sauce:
Pulse the tomatoes and the juice in a food processor until smooth and set aside. Cook the garlic, tomato paste, oil and pepper flakes in a mediumish saucepan over medium heat until the paste begins to brown. Stir in the pureed tomatoes and cook until the sauce has thickened and measures approximately 2 cups. This should take about 20-25 minutes. Take the sauce off the heat and stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper.
Chicken Parmesan:
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees and make sure oven rack is in the middle position. Combine the bread crumbs and oil in a skillet and toast over medium heat until nice and golden. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow dish and allow to cool. Once cool stir in parmesan cheese.
In another shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. In yet another dish, whisk the egg whites and water together.
Line a baking sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top and spray with vegetable spray. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge the cutlets in the flour, then dip in the egg whites and lastly coat with the toasted bread crumbs. Press the bread crumbs on to make sure they stick. Lay each cutlet on the wire rack and spray the tops with vegetable spray.
Bake about 15 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink and firm to the touch.
Remove the chicken from the oven and spoon 2 tablespoons of sauce onto the center of each cutlet. Top with 2 tablespoons of mozzarella. Put the chicken back in the oven to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with basil and serve to a hungry family. Enjoy!
Adapted from: The Best Light Recipe
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