Cook's Illustrated Lighter Chicken Parmigiano - YUM

[RoxyGrl]

Made this for dinner tonight and it was excellent. The recipe calls for toasting panko in a skillet, adding garlic powder and grated parmesan to flour and then coating and baking chicken cutlets. They are then topped with a basic tomato sauce that I jazzed up a bit with some homemade pesto I had leftover. The crispy, flavorful chicken that was baked instead of fried was excellent - I think I like this better than the traditional versions I've tried

Anyone else have any other flavorful 'light' recipes that are as good or better than the original?

[happybellynh]

The CI version of lighter eggplant parmesan is also excellent. It's a very similar method- the eggplant slices are salted and sweated, then I think an egg wash, a bread crumb coating, baked, then layers with just dollops of sauce and cheese, and baked. One of my favorite methods- and doesn't take a ton of baking time (maybe 15 minutes after the layering?)... which is good, seeing as how eggplant season doesn't really line up with all-day-oven-use season.

[RoxyGrl]

Ooh, that sounds good and we are being taken over by eggplant from the garden this month. Thanks!

[kgebhard]

Yum! One of my favourites is the Chicken Cordon Bleu from Cooking Light:

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Ingredients
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
5 teaspoons butter, melted
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 thin slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Cooking spray

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place broth in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in butter and garlic. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and paprika in a medium shallow bowl; set aside.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, oregano, and pepper. Top each breast half with 1 slice of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Roll up each breast half jelly-roll fashion. Dip each roll in chicken broth mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place rolls, seam side down, in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until juices run clear and tops are golden.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 rolled chicken breast half)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 297(30% from fat); FAT 9.9g (sat 4.4g,mono 3.6g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 45.5g; CHOLESTEROL 125mg; CALCIUM 94mg; SODIUM 619mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 3.8g

Marie Meyer, Greensboro, North Carolina , Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2005

[RoxyGrl]

Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of my favorite things ever! I think maybe I'll try the toasted panko trick on this recipe this weekend.

thanks!

[katecm]

I agree - I like it better than traditional eggplant parm because it isn't as greasy, and it's actually easier to make because you can bake all of the eggplant slices at once, instead of frying them in batches, which takes forever.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Thanks for sharing that. I saw the ATK eggplant episode and have been wanting to make it ever since. The chicken sounds great too.

[Val]

Sounds very good! What did you use to adhere the crumbs/flour to the chicken breasts? Egg or egg white, maybe? Thanks!

[efdee]

Sounds delish but I have another question: Cook's Illustrated's abridged recipe also mentions topping the cutlets with mozzarella and tomato sauce before baking at 475 degrees. How long did you bake it for? TIA.