Parmesan Chicken...now with FIBER!

As I mentioned before, some of my posts are going to start taking a healthier tone. This does not mean that I'll be eating dry greens and wheat germ. It's surprisingly easy to take full-flavored dishes and make a few small changes to crank the health factor up without sacrificing flavor. I will prove this with last night's main course, fiber-encrusted chicken Parmesan.

My daily breakfast is a bowl of Fiber One cereal. Along with providing my daily intake of fiber in one bowl, this pellet-shaped cereal is a culinary multitasker. Last night, we used it as a substitute for the less healthy bread crumbs one normally finds in chicken Parmesan. The Fiber One was tossed in a zip-top bag along with some flavoring agents - Italian seasoning, crushed almonds, grated Parmesan cheese, and garlic salt - and was smashed into bread crumb-sized bits. I made a wash out of egg white and 2% milk to help the crumbs stick to the chicken.

Speaking of the chicken, here are a few tips to maximize your poultry-preparing powers:

1. Just beat it. I like my chicken breasts to be of uniform thickness and size so that they all cook identically. This can be achieved by covering each breast with a few layers of plastic wrap and pounding on them with a rolling pin or thick saucepan until they have thinned out to uniform thickness across the breast. Don't hit them like you're hammering in a nail, just apply moderate force until they have evened out. This will shorten cooking time and ensure that all are cooked equally and completely. 
   
2. Cook to a temperature.  The only sure-fire, 100% foolproof way to make sure your chicken is done is to cook to a set internal temperature. Ok, so you could also cut them open, but then all those delicious juices would run out and you'd be left with chicken jerky. Do yourself a favor and go get a probe thermometer like this one.  Probe thermometers will make you an instantly better cook in all roasting applications because they allow you to cook to a set internal temperature. Most models also have an alarm that will sound when the desired temperature has been reached. For poultry, one should cook to 165 degrees to kill off all vestiges of that dreaded killer, the salmonella virus. This temperature also happens to produce succulent, juicy meat. Double whammy!

We topped the prepared chicken breasts with another dusting of Parmesan and cooked them at 400 degrees until an internal temperature of 165 degrees had been reached, about 20 minutes. I pulled them from the oven, topped them with a low-sugar red sauce and mozzarella cheese, and placed them back in the oven under the broiler until the cheese was melted. The resulting chicken, served alongside a sauteed tomato and spinach salad, was pretty darn tasty and healthy to boot.  By the way, I stole the above picture because I forgot to take my own, but it's close enough to provide an idea of the finished product.

Fiber-encrusted Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and pounded to uniform thickness
• 1 1/2 cups Fiber One cereal
• 1/4 cup crushed almonds (optional)
  
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 2 egg whites
• 4 tbsp low-fat milk
• 6 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup low-sugar pasta sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 2 tbsp EVOO 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat pasta sauce in a saucepan and set aside. Combine cereal, Parmesan, almonds, and seasonings into a zip top bag and crush until cereal is in fine grains. Pour cereal mixture into a pie pan and set aside. In a medium bowl combine egg whites and milk and mix until well combined. Dip chicken breasts into egg mixture to coat, then dip into cereal mixture until completely covered. Place chicken breasts into an oiled 9x13 pan. Top chicken with oil and cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 20 minutes. Remove, top with pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese, then place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and melted. Remove and allow to set for at least 5 minutes before serving. Serve alongside spinach salad or on top of whole wheat linguine or angel hair pasta.