Cooking Light with Giada De Laurentiis: Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan. It is an Italian classic that everyone has tried and most people love. In my experience, the chicken has always been breaded and fried; adding unneccessary fat and calories. I love Chicken Parmesan, but because of how it was being prepared, I always passed it up. However, with Giada's inspiration, Chicken Parmesan has a whole new look that is healthy and full of taste. The flavors of rosemary, thyme and olive oil are easy to pick up when not overshadowed by the fried breading. This dish truly is now a family favorite in my house.  Try it out in your home and let me know what ya think!

CHICKEN PARMESAN
Makes 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon water



1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves


1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves


1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves


Salt and freshly ground black pepper


4 (about 6-ounces each) boneless/skinless chicken breasts


1 1/2 cups jar tomato sauce (such as Hunt's Traditional)

1/2 cup KRAFT FAT FREE shredded mozzarella


16 teaspoons fat free grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Stir the oil, water and herbs in a small bowl to blend. Season with a tiny pinch of salt and some pepper. Pound chicken to roughly about 1inch thickness. Brush both sides of the chicken breasts with the herb oil. Heat a heavy large oven-proof skillet over high heat. Add the cutlets and cook just until brown, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Spoon the marinara sauce over and around the cutlets. Evenly sprinkle mozzarella, then sprinkle Parmesan, over each chicken breast. Bake until the cheese melts and the chicken is cooked through, about 5-8 minutes.

RESULTS:
Why do I love this recipe? Because it just goes to show ya that you don't have to give up the old foods you love in order to live a healthy life. We just need to give our old dishes a new look! Simple changes made this Chicken Parmesan into a lean meal that we love WAY more than the version my family has seen in restaurants and on take-out menus. I won't ever think of Chicken Parmesan the same way again. From now on, this is the only way to make it.

Just check out the numbers! (per serving)

BEFORE: 873.25 calories;  62g fat;  33.75g carbohydrate;  21.75g protein

AFTER: 273.5 calories;  6.5g fat;  12g carbohydrate;  45g protein

SAVES: 599.75 calories; 55.5g fat;  21.75g carbohydrate

The big savings came from reducing the amount of olive oil and butter; in both the main recipe AND in Giada's recipe for a Simple Tomato Sauce. Using your favorite jarred or canned sauce saves time, money, calories and fat. I can't speak for you, but cutting down on all those things sounds pretty amazing to me! I hope you love this dish as much as we did.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

* PRINT-FRIENDLY VERSION*