Parmesan Chicken with Spring Greens and a Lemon Vinaigrette

Ina Garten proclaims that this recipe for Parmesan Chicken is one of her favorite “go to” recipes. I can see why! It’s fast, it’s easy and it’s so delicious! Chicken breasts are pounded thin, then coated with a mixture of egg, Parmesan cheese and Panko Crumbs. The chicken is quickly fried in a little oil, then served with a simple salad and dressing of fresh lemon and olive oil. So simple and delicious! This menu will make you a rock star in no time at all!

My husband and I invited friends to join us at home, before going to a local theater production.  Typically, I enjoy having dinner guests so I can make something a bit more time-consuming and impressive.  With my busy schedule, I had no time to shop during the week and I had not settled on what to make for our dinner guests.

UPDATE: April 2014- I just made this recipe, again, and took newer photos.  Since I first posted this recipe, I’ve upgrade my camera and have improved my photography.  I still love this recipe.  I still prefer the panko crumbs, because of the beautiful crunch and golden color.  Okay.. back to 2009…

Fortunately, I had just received Ina Garten’s Cookbook that I ordered from Amazon. Like Ina, I enjoy cooking and baking, and I try to buy the best quality ingredients possible.

I zeroed in on Page 82 for Parmesan Chicken and Page 116 for Provencal Tomatoes. Fortunately, I had almost all of the ingredients on hand and we have LOTS of sweet, red ripe tomatoes in our backyard. All I needed to do was buy fresh chicken and I decided to pick up asparagus.

For the Parmesan chicken: Butterfly boneless skinless chicken breasts. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and pound them thin. For the breading station, you’ll need three deep dishes.

The first is filled with flour, seasoned with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
The second is filled with two eggs and a little water, then whisked.
The third plate is filled with panko crumbs.

To the panko crumbs, add freshly ground Parmesan (using my food processor, since I buy my Parmesan in chunks). Season the crumbs with about 1 Tablespoon of homemade Italian blend (dried thyme, oregano, basil and a little marjoram). Like an assembly line, dip the chicken in flour, egg and crumbs and set them in the fridge.

Two fresh lemons makes Ina’s lemon vinaigrette. Could it be any simpler? Lemon juice, kosher salt & pepper. I set a whisk and a bottle of extra virgin olive oil close by. I open up a package of fresh mixed salad greens into a bowl and chilled it.

The tomatoes were put into the oven and I set up the stove to cook the chicken.

Melt butter and olive together in heavy skillet on medium high heat.

Cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes, until it is golden brown.

Gently flip the chicken over to the other side until cooked. It should only take a few minutes, since the chicken is very thin.

In the meantime, drizzle olive oil into the lemon juice, seasoned with salt & pepper (to taste) and tossed it into the salad greens. Time to plate dinner– 15 minutes after I started cooking! The Provencal Tomatoes were baked to perfection. Time to plate: Chicken, a mound of salad on top, asparagus and the tomato on the side.

TASTING NOTES: It is such joy, as many of you know, when dinner guests show delight in their eyes when I serve them a plate like this! Honestly, this was fast and easy– and very delicious. I loved the freshness of the lemon vinaigrette and the salad greens, and the crunchiness of the chicken with the hint of Parmesan cheese. The tomatoes were outstanding, and roasted asparagus are always a big hit.

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Parmesan Chicken with Spring Greens and a Lemon Vinaigrette

Ina Garten proclaims that this recipe for Parmesan Chicken is one of her favorite “go to” recipes. I can see why! It’s fast, it’s easy and it’s so delicious! Chicken breasts are pounded thin, then coated with a mixture of egg, Parmesan cheese and Panko Crumbs. The chicken is quickly fried in a little oil, then served with a simple salad and dressing of fresh lemon and olive oil. So simple and delicious! This menu will make you a rock star in no time at all!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: main

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Parmesan Chicken

Servings: 6

Calories: 422kcal

Author: Debby – www.AFeastfortheEyes.net

Equipment

• 12" Skillet
• meat pounder
• Breading Trays

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breasts boneless and skinless
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs or seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan plus extra for serving
• 2 Tbsp Unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

For the salad greens:

• 6 cups Salad greens washed and spun dry

LEMON VINAIGRETTE:

• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

For the chicken:

• Pound the chicken breasts until they are 1/4-inch thick by placing plastic wrap on top. You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.
• Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the panko or bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken breasts on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.

For the salad:

• In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast. Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Notes

Recipe adapted from: Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Family Style

NOTE: I’ve made this recipe a few times and much prefer Panko crumbs instead of traditional bread crumbs because of the extra crunch.

Nutrition

Calories: 422kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 839mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 715IU | Vitamin C: 13.2mg | Calcium: 138mg | Iron: 2.3mg

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