So its Monday, and I had a long weekend, and needed comfort food. Mondays are one of the few nights I don’t have to go anywhere, and don’t have to rush to slam dinner on the table. At least until Girl Scouts starts again.. oy vey.

Tonight I really wanted Chicken Parmesan. But I didn’t have any Parmesan and I had already put on my sweat pants. So I made it without! And it was delicious.

I started out by defrosting 3 large chicken breasts in the microwave. Once thawed, I laid them on a plastic cutting board, and butterflied them down the middle. Making two thin breasts out of each. I then covered the thin breasts with plastic wrap, placed a sandwich bag over the end of my hammer, and gently pounded them until tender and extremely flat. I do this because when frying chicken, I am always worried the outside will burn before the inside is cooked all the way. And I happen to like thin crispy chicken, with anything, and especially spaghetti.

I dredged the chicken in a seasoned flour mix , I was out of bread crumbs too – #thestruggle. For this I just mixed the flour and seasonings listed below in a bowl, and dipped the wet chicken into the mix. I did not use any egg or milk, just the natural wetness of the chicken allowed the flour mix to stick well and make a light crispy coating.

I then fried them in bubbling vegetable shortening in a large skillet. I did 1 tbsp shortening to each breast. TIP: When you flick tiny drops of water off your fingers into hot oil and it sizzles but does not pop – the oil is perfect. I cooked them about 5-7 minutes per side, until golden and dark brown. Then I removed them from the pan and put them on a paper towel bed until the spaghetti was ready.

Then I  simply cooked whole wheat noodles al dente, topped them with my spaghetti sauce and placed the chicken on the side with some spinach for texture. It hit the spot, and I even had a few thin breasts left over, which will make an amazing sandwich tomorrow! Stay tuned 🙂

Ingredients:

• 3 thawed chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded thin
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp pepper
• 2 tsp powered garlic
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3-4 tbsp vegetable shortening in a med heated pan

What are your favorite comfort foods?? I would love to try them!!

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