Chicken Parmesan

Quite frankly, we were really confused when we realized that we hadn't written a blog about Chicken Parmesan before. We make this all of the time. It's one of our standbys. It's also really easy, which is just one reason it graces our table consistently. The other is it's dang tasty.

Here's what you need:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
2 Tbsp-ish olive oil
1 jar marinara sauce (we didn't make our own red sauce for this one)
1 cup shredded mozzarella (or, if you're thinking about it when you're at the store, get fresh mozzarella and slice it!)
Kosher salt & black pepper

Additional Equipment:
Plastic Wrap
Cooking Spray
Mallet

Here's what you do:
If you're using regular chicken breasts, slice them in half. You're going to want them really thin. We generally use tenders for this because, well, we just do.

Lay down a sheet of plastic wrap and spray a little cooking spray on it. Add a a piece of chicken and then top with another sheet of plastic wrap.

Gently pound the chicken, starting from the center, to flatten the cutlet out to about 1/4" thickness.

Once you get through all your cutlets, set up your breading station.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and heat 2 Tbsp oil in a 12" skillet.

Also, spread the marinara into the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Bread the cutlets, then put in the hot oil to brown.

Once crispy on the outsides, put into the marinara sauce. Top with the mozzarella cheese.

Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese melts.

Cook some spaghetti while your chicken is in the oven. Top the spaghetti with a couple of chicken cutlets and spoon sauce over the top.

Enjoy!

Chicken Meatballs: Traditional & Buffalo

We made these meatballs for our annual Super Bowl party with Zack's parents. We made two different versions, buffalo chicken and traditional chili sauce. The actual meatballs are exactly the same, we just cooked in the sauces after the meatballs were cooked through. They turned out great! 

We made 3 pounds of meatballs (2 lbs of traditional meatballs and 1 lb of buffalo), so adjust your quantities as needed.

Here's what you need:
Meatballs:
3 lbs ground chicken
3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs (You may need more depending on the consistency at the end)
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
3 eggs
3 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
Kosher salt & black pepper

Chili Sauce:
2 jars Heinz chili sauce
1/2 cup grape jelly

Buffalo Sauce:
1 1/2 jars Louisiana brand wing sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
This turned out really spicy, we added some Ranch dressing to the sauce to cool it down and save our taste buds. You could also use sour cream to cool it down.

Here's what you do:
Combine all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix with your hands to combine. You can try mixing with a spoon, but by hand is really the best and easiest way.

Don't over mix. You want the meatballs to be moist, but not super wet. If you need to add breadcrumbs, just add a few at a time until the meatballs hold together well.

Roll the meat into one inch balls between your palms. Don't over roll them. You don't want to heat the meatballs up too much. We placed on the cookie sheets we'd be baking them on for the time being.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a 12" skillet with about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs on two sides. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked to 165 internal temperature. We just broke one open to check the center.

Remove from the oven, and dump them in their respective slow cookers.

Mix the buffalo sauce and chicken stock in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the sauce over the meatballs destined for buffalo sauce and keep on low in the slow cooker.

Pour the chili sauce and grape jelly over the other meatballs and give it a good stir. Put that one on low in the slow cooker as well.

We cooked the meatballs for a few hours the day before and then stored them in the fridge overnight. The longer the meatballs can soak up the sauce, the tastier they'll be.

Enjoy!

Balsamic Chicken Tenders with Tomato Couscous

Zack conceptualized this dish completely. Couscous is a pasta, but cooks like a rice. We've made it with chicken stock before, but this was our first experiment with tomatoes. If you haven't noticed, we like to try new things in the kitchen. This one was a winner, and perfect for a weeknight meal.

Here's what you need:
1 lb chicken tenders (You can use chicken breast, just cut them in half)
1/2 cup Balsamic vinaigrette
1 cup couscous
1 15 oz. can low sodium diced tomatoes in juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch of red pepper flake
water
salt and pepper to taste

Here's what you do:
Throw your chicken in a freezer bag and pour in the vinaigrette. Place in the fridge for an hour or so to marinade.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add a little bit of olive oil. You don't need much, because the marinade will prevent sticking as well.

At this point, you just want to brown the tenders, not cook them all the way through. Add them to the pan in shifts so that they aren't crowded and have room to sear.

While you're chicken is browning, strain a can of diced tomatoes, reserving the juice in a measuring cup. Set the tomatoes aside in a bowl for later use. You want a cup of liquid for the couscous, so top off the tomato juice with water until you reach one cup.

Add the juice, two tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of red pepper flake to a medium sauce pan.

Start the mixture coming to a boil when you're about done with your chicken tenders.

Once all of the tenders are browned, throw them all back in the pan and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Now that your tomato juice is boiling, add one cup of couscous.

Cover and remove from the heat.

After about 10 minutes, your couscous should have soaked up the juice and cooked through. Fluff with a fork to make sure all of the liquid has absorbed.


Finally, stir in the tomatoes that you strained earlier.

Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan over the top, stir it up again, and call it a day.

And by now, your chicken should be finished.

Definitely easy enough for a Tuesday, right?

Enjoy!

Chicken & Pesto Spaghetti Pie

We made a variation of our normal Spaghetti Pie the other day. This version is a bit healthier, since it doesn't have pepperoni or Alfredo sauce.


Here's what you need: 
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast or tenderloins
1/2 box of spaghetti
1/2 cup of pesto (more or less to your taste)
2 cups of shredded mozzarella
Grated Parmesan
1 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt & black pepper


Here's what you do:
Clean your chicken and dice into bite-sized pieces.

Start your water boiling for your spaghetti.


Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and the chicken. Coat the chicken with a bit of salt and pepper.

Let that cook until the juices of the chicken run clear. Scoop onto a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.


When your water boils, add your spaghetti and cook to al dente. It will continue cooking in the oven, so you don't want it really mushy.


Drain your pasta and put in a large bowl. Add the pesto and stir to coat thoroughly. If it seems really stiff, add a little olive oil to the pasta as well.

Once coated, put half of the spaghetti mixture in a greased casserole dish.




Add half of the chicken.

Then, add half of the shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan over that.

Repeat this process for the second half of the dish.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese starts to brown.

Enjoy!

Asparagus Stuffed Chicken

We ran across some gorgeous purple asparagus at our local farmer's market the other day. We love asparagus, and rejoice for spring when it is fresh. Also on our healthy eating plan, we wanted to kick our chicken up a notch.


Here's what you need:
1 1/2-2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 bunch of asparagus
Provolone
Fresh Basil
Garlic (we used green garlic from the Farmer's Market)
Kosher Salt and Pepper


Here's what you do:
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.


Chop up your garlic (or green garlic.

Rinse and snap your asparagus. Keep it in long strips so it will stay in the chicken easier.

Finally, butterfly your chicken breasts. 

Add the provolone first to the inside of the chicken.

Next, add the asparagus.

Then add the garlic.

And finally, add the basil leaves. If you want to slice these up, feel free, but we liked the idea of leaving them whole.

Now, you roll. Carefully roll the chicken over, and secure with toothpicks to hold it together while it cooks. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Place in your preheated oven for 30-45 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. 

Remove all of the toothpicks. 


Voila! You have something gorgeous to serve, that really doesn't require much work.

Enjoy!