Sauceless Chicken Parmesan

Tonight I made a sauceless chicken parmesan. My husband doesn't like anything with tomato sauce, so I figured, what the heck! Let me give a sauceless parmesan a try. Okay okay, I hear you. Chicken parmesan without the sauce is just fried chicken. Perhaps! 

The first thing to consider is the chicken. Instead of breast meat, I got boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They are around 150 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat for 4 oz. of meat. The other thing you want to do is to use a meat tenderizer to soften and thin the meat.

Get three plates. In the first one put some bread crumbs. In the second, put an egg with some water. I use water to extend the amount without adding the calories and fat of an extra egg. In the third, I put panko. Put the chicken in the bread crumbs first, making sure the chicken is thoroughly covered on both sides. Then put the chicken into the egg, again covering both sides. Then into the panko the chicken goes. Yep, both sides should be covered!

Spray a frying pan with Pam. I use the olive oil variety. Then put in a tablespoon of olive oil. Heat the oil on a medium burner flame.

Put the chicken into the frying pan. Sprinkle pepper and salt on the chicken. If you need more oil, add it.

Let the chicken sit for around 5 minutes before you flip it with a rubber spatula and spoon. The crust should be somewhat brown. Wait another 5 minutes before flipping.  Continue to flip. Total cooking time is around 20 minutes, because the chicken is thin.

Take the chicken out of the pan onto a dish with a paper towel (to sop up any extra water). Transfer to plate, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

As a side, I made butter noodles with parmesan. Boil the noodles as directed on the box. Drain. Then put the noodles in a frying pay with a tablespoon each of olive oil and butter. Saute some onion. Add pepper and salt. Add the pasta. Saute the pasta to the desired crispiness. Before you take the pasta out of the pan, add some parmesan.

That's how you make sauceless parmesan chicken!

Salmon Kebobs

I found this recipe in the June 2013 Bon Appetit, and I thought what the heck, let me try it. Now I have to admit up front that I am not a huge fan of salmon. Usually when I'm forced to eat salmon, I douse it with ketchup. My husband loves, loves, loves salmon, so I thought I would give this a try.

The most important part of the recipe is getting a good piece of salmon. You will want to get something that's fairly thick and skinless. Then cut the salmon into rectangular pieces. You shouldn't make the pieces too small or too big. The pieces in the kebob to the left are around 1 inch wide and 1.5 to 2 inches long.

In addition to salmon, you will need to make sure you have the spice mix listed below, fresh lemon, and olive oil on hand.

To make 2 kebobs (1 kebob for each person):

1. Put your kebob sticks in water for around an hour. This will prevent them from burning as you cook.
2. Cut the salmon.
3. Mix your ingredients for the spicy concoction that you'll use on the salmon. 
1. 1 tsp dry oregano (or 1 Tbsp fresh oregano)
2. 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
3. 1/2 tsp ground cumin
4. 1/2 tsp kosher salt
5. sprinkle of red pepper flakes
4. Alternate the salmon with lemon slices on the skewers. Use 2 skewers for each kebob so you can  flip the salmon without the pieces rotating. Each kebob should have a salmon piece at the start and end of the kebob.
5. Brush olive oil on the kebob.
6. Sprinkle with the spicy concoction.
7. You have two choices for cooking methods. 

1. You can grill the salmon kebobs on an outside grill. Make sure to flip the kebobs periodically.This should take about 5-8 minutes.
2. You can saute the kebobs in a frying pan. Make sure to flip the kebobs periodically. Depending on how hot the pan gets, it will take around 15 minutes or so.
8. The kebobs are done when the salmon doesn't have that red color in the center of the kebob piece.

As I said, the salmon was extremely tasty. I didn't need any ketchup, and the salmon flaked off the kebob. I made roasted potato wedges as a side, but you can make rice, grilled veggies, or salad.