"Lighter fare doesn't have to be blah" by Nosh On

Lighter fare doesn't have to be blah

Blog: Nosh On

May 19, 2011

It took me a good 18 hours to decide what to make for dinner last night. The night before, I took a package of chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw. I was pretty sure I'd come up with something to do with them. Early on, I conceded to making cornflake-baked chicken tenders.

Cornflake-baked chicken is an easy fallback, quick, healthy and reliable. But I kept on hoping I'd be inspired to make something else, something less routine with the chicken. I considered using some sort of rub and grilling them, though that was a similarly uninspired notion since we often grill chicken.

So, with a heavy sigh, it grabbed the box of cornflakes and poured the remainder of the bag into the bowl of my food processor. Inspiration struck when I went to the fridge to grab a couple of eggs (I probably only needed one) and the chicken breasts. There they were, the bottle of spaghetti sauce and a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. Chicken Parmesan. (I've always wondered why it's called chicken Parmesan when Parmesan cheese is not a main ingredient. I figure it's because whoever came up with it lived in the Parma region of Italy. Or they just thought calling it "Parmesan" would make it sound truly Italian. I have a feeling it's American, not actually Italian.)

I was so happy to be making something with a little oomph and heads and tails healthier than how it's usually made. Instead of baking the chicken with a cornflake crust, the normal method is to fry the chicken first. By using cornflakes as the crust and baking it on a silpat, I cut out the oil entirely! Even better, it's still super-duper crispy. Plus, you can't really taste the cornflakes as being cornflakes (ask my husband, Brian, he thought I'd fried the chicken.)

When dinner was done and Brian and I were cleaning up I made a mental note to always make chicken Parmesan this way. Not only was it healthier, but much less time consuming since I didn't have to keep an eye on the chicken as it pan fried.

Cornflake-Crusted Chicken Parmesan

2 cups cornflakes, crushed
2 eggs, beaten
2 chicken breasts
1 cup marinara sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place crushed cornflakes in a shallow bowl. Put beaten eggs in another shallow bowl. Set aside.
Take chicken breasts and, using a meat mallet or hammer or whatever, pound chicken to about 1/4-inch thick. Feel free to cut up pounded chicken into smaller pieces (about the size of your palm.
One at a time take a piece of chicken and with one hand, dip into beaten egg. Drop egg-coated chicken pieces into cornflakes, and using the other hand turn to coat chicken on all sides. Place chicken onto nonstick, parchment-lined, or Silpat-lined baking sheet. Continue with remaining chicken pieces.
Bake for about 15 minutes.
Transfer chicken pieces to baking dish and cover with marinara sauce. Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over top and return to oven. Bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and has browned a bit.
Serve hot over a bed of fresh spinach. Enjoy.

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