Play Date, Presents and Parmesan Chicken Salad

I got up this morning and went to watch the Angel Face take her swimming lessons. She is such a little fish.  She has no fear at all and got very excited when I walked in and she saw me.  She immediately lost interest in the instructor and only had eyes for me.  It does a Grammy's heart good to be so well loved.

After swimming, we headed off to the zoo.  Melody's favorite is the butterfly house.  We spent a long while in there.  The zoo has a new penguin exhibit that is extremely awesome.  It was our last stop before heading out and Mel was very tired and getting crabby.  The minute we walked into the exhibit she was awestruck and we spent a good 20 minutes watching the penguins swimming around.  A stop to get a stuffed penguin and off to the car we went.  She was snoozing in minutes.

When I got home, I found another wonderful sponsor gift on my doorstep.  This one is from #GourmetGardenus who is sponsoring our #GuacSquad12.  I will be sharing more about that in the next few days.  I love getting packages.  Speaking of packages, you still have 2 days to enter to win a Gourmet Garden Gift Package of your own.  You can enter at my post featuring Frutti di Mare.

Frank wasn't able to join us at the zoo today because he needed to get yard work completed before the rains that are scheduled to arrive tomorrow come in.  He was still hard at it when I got home.  I watered my flowers and chickens, gathered the eggs, spent some time with the pups, worked on some social media shares and then started dinner.

I had scheduled Caesar Chicken Salad for dinner tonight but when we went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday they had some gorgeous baby spring mix that I couldn't resist.  So I made a salad with the mixed greens and topped it with a chicken breast flavored with Italian herbs and Parmesan cheese. 

I made a lemon vinaigrette with which to dress the salad without taking away from the flavor of the Parmesan Chicken.

I pounded the chicken with a meat mallet to 1/4" thickness.  This tenderizes the chicken and also helps it to cook quickly and evenly since it is all uniform.

Set up a dredging station for the chicken breast.  You will dredge the breast in all three bowls before cooking it up over med low heat until crisp and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side.

I let the chicken rest under the heat lamp for a few minutes while Frank and I shared a cocktail and caught up on our day.

When we were ready for dinner, it was only a matter of tossing the greens with the vinaigrette, topping with the chicken breast and sprinkling with a little extra parmesan.  I originally got this recipe from Ina Garten's Family Style Cookbook.  I love Ina Garten.  Her recipes are simple and delicious. This recipe serves two but feel free to double or triple it. Enjoy.

Parmesan Chicken Salad

adapted from Ina Garten

2 large handfuls of Baby Spring Greens

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4" thickness

1/3 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

1/2 T. water

1/2 c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese plus extra for sprinkling

1 T. unsalted butter

1 T. olive oil

Wash and dry greens, set aside.  Combine lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper in a small jar with a lid.  Shake vigorously to combine, set aside. 

Place the flour in a shallow bowl, season with salt and pepper.  Place the egg and water in a second shallow bowl, whisk until combined.  Mix the bread crumbs and parmesan together in a third bowl.  Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over med high heat.  Dredge the chicken first in the flour mixture, then in the egg and finally in the bread crumb mixture.  Place in the skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.  Flip over and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, until browned and cooked through.  Remove to a plate and let rest.

Toss the greens with desired amount of vinaigrette.  Divide between 2 plates.  Top each with a chicken breast.  Sprinkle with additional cheese and serve.  Print Recipe