Herb-Crusted Buttermilk Baked Chicken

I don't have an actual "recipe" for this, I just winged it (hmmm - it's chicken and I winged it...) and it turned out so good and easy I thought I'd share. Perfect for a quick weeknight meal, if you plan ahead more than I did you could soak the chicken in the buttermilk anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours and that would make the chicken even moister - but even without marinading it turned out moist, crunchy, and flavorful. Almost like having fried chicken without all the extra calories. 

                     

Simple: all I did was dip boneless chicken breasts in buttermilk seasoned with coarse pepper and a little tabasco sauce, then dredged in panko breadcrumbs mixed with grated parmesan and thyme. 

Line a baking sheet with foil to catch any drippings, then put a browning pan (or any pan that has holes in it, I used the one that came with my toaster oven) on the baking sheet and spray with non-stick cooking spray; lay the chicken breasts on the top pan. My thought is the second tray with the holes helped the crumbs not get quite as mushy as laying them straight down on the foil. It'll work just fine tho if you don't do the second pan thing! 

Bake at 400' until the chicken is cooked thru and the crumbs are browned and crispy. The bake time will change depending on how thick your chicken is, if you have a meat thermometer you want the chicken cooked thru to 165'. 

note: this would (obviously) cook faster and more evenly if I'da pounded the breasts to flatten them out...but I didn't. And it was all good!


3.23.18: perler bead Easter eggs
3.23.17: a laugh
3.23.16: Easter side dishes - pineapple stuffing, creamed new potatoes, roasted carrots


Happy moment ~ finished a time consuming task, feels so good!

Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken

This chicken is such an easy, healthy, quick, delish dish - I haven't made it in a while but am now remembering how much we like it! I'm bringing this recipe back to the front for sure.

• 6 boneless chicken breast halves (2 lbs total)
• 1 1/4 lbs roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup finely slivered arugula
• 3 T. capers
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup parmesan
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/4 t. cayenne
• salt to taste

-Pound chicken till flat and uniform thickness. Beat egg with 1 T. water in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine cornmeal, parmesan, and spices. Dip the chicken in the egg, then cornmeal mixture coating completely. Grill (or bake) until done.

-Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, arugula, capers, lemon and olive oil in a bowl.

-Serve the chicken with the tomato mixture on top.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving: 298 calories, 6.5g fat, 40g protein

don't have a meat mallet? I just put the chicken in a large
ziplock bag and pound it with a small frying pan!

dip first in egg...

then in cornmeal mixture. 

Notes: I should have halved the chicken but left them giant, took quite a while to get them cooked thru - also I couldn't pound them down very well. It's much easier and quicker with thinner chicken!

I used red pepper flakes instead of cayenne, and used a whole bag of arugula for the two of us instead of 1 cup for 6 servings like the recipe states. It's just arugula, go for it :). Oh, and I added some fresh mushrooms I had on hand just cuz.

The capers are really salty (in fact I usually rinse them before using), if you omit them make sure to season the arugula/tomato mixture.

This recipe originated in a Sunset magazine - when I tried to look it up online to get a date I only find mention of it in 1996! See, told ya I've been making it for a while now!