Food for Thought: Parmesan Chicken

My mom always cooked the same things over and over. Then when my oldest brother went on a mission for our church to Thailand, it was like she learned how to cook all over again. Suddenly we were trying new recipes and spices. We were expected to like everything he was eating even though he was the pickiest eater on the planet when he lived home. He only ate Rice Chex the first five years of his life (although he turned out brilliant, so maybe I should have tried that on a couple of my kids).

Pic from this Thai recipe blog

 So one day she was making this Thai recipe with noodles and fish oil and oyster sauce and some really potent hot stuff. I was wiping the table, preparing to set it for dinner. I’m not sure how it got there, but suddenly I had that pepper sauce in my eye. Oh how it burned! My eyes watered and I doused my face in cool water, but it didn’t take away the burn. Finally I got in the shower and that finally mostly fixed the problem.

Fast forward 20 years later…we were making salsa and instead of our standard anaheims and jalapenos we had grown habaneros. Bossy was helping and somehow some of the juice got beneath her contact lens and into her eye. She went through exactly the same thing, crying, eye soak, and finally a shower before she could get rid of it. (We didn’t plant that particular variety ever again.) So I decided that we would try some recipes that didn’t require a ton of heat. For me that meant Italian food.

 I love good pasta with meat sauce but my sweetie prefers chicken. Although this is not quite like the Parmesan chicken you might get at a nice restaurant, it is still mighty tasty and so easy to make. This is not the recipe to use when you are thinking you want to spend half the day in the kitchen although we have made it with homemade sauce too. This recipe is half of what I make so it would comfortably feed a family of six. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Parmesan Chicken

2 lbs chicken breasts

canned, seasoned bread crumbs

grated Parmesan cheese (like Kraft in the green can)

1 jar/can spaghetti sauce

 
Place chicken in a frypan; sprinkle generously with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Cook until chicken is done (about 10 minutes). I like to cut it into bite-sized pieces at this point just to make it easier for the kids to eat. Pour spaghetti sauce over the top and cook 5 minutes more (until sauce is hot).

Sprinkle with a little more Parmesan cheese. Serve over cooked pasta. I have tried using real Parmesan grated from a brick, but my sweetie prefers the canned stuff for this particular recipe.

 
**Editor's Note- Bossy's variation.  If we have it in the fridge, we add shredded mozzarella on top just before serving.**