We’ve been making a conscious effort lately to try to eat a little healthier, yet still enjoy flavorful meals. I like most vegetables and over time, I’ve realized my favorite way to prepare them – and also probably the easiest way to prepare them – is to roast them on a foil-lined sheet pan with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper.
There are a few tips, however, to optimizing this process. First of all, you’ll want to chop all your vegetables roughly the same size so they’ll cook evenly. Secondly, some veggies take longer than others to cook, so you’ll want to factor that in as well. For example, I recently chopped up a sweet potato, a purple onion, a head of broccoli and a couple of zucchini. I knew the chopped sweet potato would take the longest to cook, so I put it and the chopped onions in a 425-degree oven first and after they’d cooked about 20 minutes, I scooted them to one end of the sheet pan and then added my chopped broccoli and zucchini to the other end of the sheet pan and cooked it all for an additional 20 minutes. Now just to be clear, no, the purple onion doesn’t take near as long as the sweet potato to cook and I could have just added it to the pan when I added the broccoli and zucchini, but I really enjoy the black, crispy char on the edges that results from cooking them longer than necessary.
This method is quite simple and not very labor-intensive, so I’ll often roast more veggies than I need for one meal so that I’ll have some left. The leftover roasted veggies can then be reheated and eaten as is, or they can be added to a grain bowl, to soup, to omelets or frittatas, to tacos or even used as pizza toppings. The possibilities are endless actually. The only limit is your imagination.
While I’m not opposed to the occasional meatless meal, I wanted to serve a protein with this and I just happened to run across a recipe for crispy baked chicken cutlets that looked easy and sounded good, yet was still relatively healthy. While this recipe calls for boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are pounded into cutlets, I did one better and just purchased them already in thin cutlet form, thus eliminating the pounding step.
This healthy meal came together quickly and easily and we thoroughly enjoyed it, with Hubby even suggesting that it should be added to the rotation. I think you’ll enjoy it if you try it. And keep in mind … you’re not locked into using the same veggies I used. You may use whatever you prefer. I selected these because I like them and I also thought they seemed a little “fallish.” Enjoy!
Crispy Baked Chicken Cutlets
- 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, or avocado oil
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons milk, any milk
- ¾ cup panko bread crumbs, or Italian-style panko
- ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Sea salt and pepper, to taste
- Avocado cooking oil spray
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley, to garnish
Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
To prepare the cutlets, pound each of the chicken breasts to an even ¼-inch thickness.
Next, rub the chicken with 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. If time allows, marinate it for 1-2 hours. This will give you the most tender and moist chicken.
In a large bowl, whisk together the 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons milk, a pinch of salt and pepper.
In a shallow dish, combine the 1 teaspoon garlic powder, and ¾ cup panko bread crumbs with ¼ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoon smoked paprika. Dip the chicken cutlets into the egg mixture, then dredge it into the panko mixture, lightly pressing to coat.
Place the chicken onto the prepared baking sheet and spray with avocado cooking oil spray. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes, then flip the chicken cutlets and bake for 5-8 minutes more or until golden and cooked through.
Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley, and serve immediately.
