Not Your (My?) Mama's Parm

I couldn't really tell you why I had never made chicken parmesan before now. My best guess is that my mom makes out of this world, everything from scratch veal parmesan that I know is a labor of love - so mentally, I always thought it was a huge investment of time. Then I was tipped off about this recipe for an oven-friend version of chicken parm that was supposedly easy and delicious. Game on.

Not-so-stressful Chicken Parm (adapted from Cooking Light, September 2009)
serves 2-3, adjust accordingly :)

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloins (note: this is what I buy in bulk at the store, chicken breast halves would work perfectly as well. I wouldn't do the whole thing because of cooking time issues)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Pinch of salt
2 slightly beaten egg whites
3/4 cup crushed panko breadcrumbs (they stick better if you smoosh them just a little)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup pasta sauce (I like Classico Spicy Tomato-Basil)
1/2 cup shredded or shaved parmesan
1 cup shredded mozzarella

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grab 3 dishes (I had 2 plates and a bowl) - one plate combine the flour, oregano and salt. In the bowl I put the 2 large egg whites. The last dish is for the panko breadcrumbs. Send your chicken through the assembly line...



Place the chicken into a hot oven-safe skillet with olive oil and brown on each side (about 2 minutes on each side).

Place the pan into the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Then take it out, flip the chicken over and top it with the sauce and both cheeses.

Stick it back into the oven for another 5-6 minutes or until your chicken is done.

Can you say carb-overload? I'd like to think I had this with a side salad or some other vegetable, but there's really no telling....

Not an all day investment of time but still pretty darn good!