Gluten Free Parmesan Chicken

The good thing about not blogging for awhile is that I have a nice, fat backlog of recipes I want to post! Here's one of them. I made it just the other night and it's on the menu again this week. This is an easy recipe for Parmesan Chicken, which can be served the traditional way with pasta and tomato sauce and cheese, or more like breaded chicken. I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans and it was a hit. And the leftovers were delicious the next day on sandwiches.

For heaven's sake don't buy gluten free bread crumbs, just save the crusts of your bread, and any gluten free bread that goes stale, in a ziploc bag in the freezer. Then when you need bread crumbs, just break it into pieces and throw it into a food processor or blender to make crumbs. I was surprised by how much parmesan chicken you can make out of 3 medium-sized breasts.

Gluten Free Parmesan Chicken

1 (heaping) cup gluten free bread crumbs

1/2 c. parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

2 eggs

3 chicken breasts, about 1.5 pounds

Pound the chicken with a meat mallet until it is 1/4" thick. This is important or your breading will burn before your chicken cooks. I think that the cleanest way to do this is to stick one or two thawed chicken breasts in a gallon zipper freezer bag. Squeeze out most of the air, so it doesn't pop, and seal it. Then pound away. There's no flying chicken juice!

Combine the bread crumbs, parmesan and spices in a shallow bowl. Beat the eggs in another shallow bowl.

Cut the chicken into smaller pieces, about the size of a deck over cards, don't worry if they are not uniform. (If you want chicken "nuggets" do even smaller pieces.)

Heat some vegetable oil in a large skillet (I used canola) over medium heat.

With one hand dip a piece of chicken in the eggs, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating both sides. (This leaves you with a clean hand to turn on the faucet, or use a spatula).

Cook the chicken about 3-minutes on each side, until the breading is golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. Enjoy!