Healthy Chicken Parm

Healthy Chicken Parm... One of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE dishes my mom made growing up was eggplant parm. I would almost say its last-meal-before-I-die status. Tonight though I started thinking about making a chicken parm - which my mom never made but just sounded like a good thing to try on this delightful Sunday evening. I ran to Trader Joe's to get all of the essentials, thinking that I already had bread crumbs at home. I grabbed a tomato sauce, whole milk mozzarella, eggs for an egg wash, and chicken breasts (also knowing I still had left over shaved parmesan from the pizza making fest last week).

Once home however I scoured my pantry and bread crumbs were no where to be found! After some deliberating I took it as a sign to be creative and healthy, and thus decided to forgo the breadcrumb crust altogether. So here is what I made

Healthy Chicken Parm:

Turn your oven to 350 degrees. Take your chicken breasts and sprinkle them with crushed dried oregano. Then over high heat add a liberal layer of olive oil or vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot place the chicken in the pan for a few minutes on each side, just long enough to get a little sear/crust. Then remove the chicken breasts and place them in a pyrex baking dish. Add a layer of the tomato sauce on the chicken, then a layer of sliced mozzarella, another layer of sauce, and a big sprinkle of parm. Finish it off by adding more of the sauce around the rest of the baking dish - this will help lock in the juicy moisture while the chicken finishes cooking in the oven. Place the pyrex dish in the oven on 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the sauce is slightly bubbling.

Sear the chicken breasts

Slice and layer the whole milk mozz

Add the tomato sauce & shaved parm 

Sauteed Kale:

Done!

Simple as can be. Crush some garlic, add it to a pan with olive oil and sautee your greens in there. Add a splash of water as the kale starts to cook down, turn the heat down to medium/low and place a lid on the pan. Voila.

Loving Kale right now

With dinner I served a bit of whole wheat spaghetti and a side salad with butter lettuce, baby heirloom tomatoes, and chopped cucumber in olive oil and white balsamic vinegar.

The dinner was quick and easy, it was extremely filling and satisfying and of course Dahlicious - but I finished still feeling oddly light without all of the bready fried crust. Not to mention each chicken breast was so ginormous that there was no way I could finish my portion - perhaps thats why I didn't feel so full. The good news is I definitely left room for my most favorite Trader Joe's dessert - dark chocolate covered frozen banana slices! 

Happy Sunday!