A Suspiciously Healthy Dinner

Wednesday dawned with a slight, occasional drizzle. I didn’t think too much about it (as the temperatures were just above freezing) until I turned onto the road my building is on and slid sideways! I downshifted to low, straightened it out, and drove into work, a little more careful. Everyone else who showed up had similar stories of black ice and accidents.

However, it had all melted by my morning walk (a meeting had delayed it until 10:30 AM, though). I still had to tiptoe around some areas that were frozen an inch thick the day before.

I realized while planning my tonight’s supper that I had forgotten to buy a key ingredient at Kroger’s when I went last Saturday: boneless, skinless chicken breasts! Now, I normally don’t get boneless, skinless chicken anything (I believe that’s where the flavor comes from) but the recipe called for them and Kroger’s had them on sale.

So, I went there at lunch, ran in, got them, and then drove towards home. I saw gas was cheap at my favorite station in that area, so I pulled in and topped off my tank. Then I went home, put the chicken in the fridge and made a BLT sandwich for my lunch. 50% of the snow in my backyard had melted, BTW.

I called for a haircut appointment and then remembered I wanted to call the Volvo dealer. So, I did. I talked to Bill, the service manager who has taken care of my car before, and explained my failed attempts to adjust my headlights, using the Internet info. I asked him if I should just bring it in or could he tell me where “exactly” the adjustment screw was. He said, “John, there is NO adjustment screw. You can’t “adjust” the headlights; they were perfectly and permanently set when the car was built. If you are having problems, you put the bulb in wrong!”

I felt like a damn fool…

It was sunny and definitely warmer on my afternoon walk, but the wind was very strong, so it wasn’t a “nice” day.

When I got home after work (too dark to work on the headlights – I’ll have to wait until the weekend) probably 80% of the snow had melted.

I changed clothes after treating the cats and began the Wednesday night wash. I took the chicken out to come up to room temperature.

For my recipe (it’s really Ted Allen’s recipe – I’m not a big fan of his, but it looked and sounded great) I needed 3/4 cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese. I could have bought some, but I had a partial tub of shredded Parmesan I bought a week or so before for something. So, I put it in the food processor and pulsed it until it was “grated”

I switched the clothes to the dryer and got started on supper. I preheated the oven to 450 degrees F.

In my mid-size mixing bowl, I combined two tablespoons of Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon of thyme leaves (I used dry), 1/4 cup of cayenne pepper and about a teaspoon of Kosher Salt (it’s “to taste” and that looked right to me).

I put the three chicken breasts in there and turned them to coat. I let that get happy while I lined a cookie sheet with tin foil and lightly coated it with canola oil cooking spray.

Then I made the crust mixture by putting my now grated Parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl along with an equal amount (about 3/4 cup each) of Panko bread crumbs. I mixed them thoroughly and then dredged the chicken in it, pressing the mixture firmly onto the chicken. Then I laid each piece on the cookie sheet. I lightly sprayed the tops with the canola oil and stuck the cookie sheet in the oven.

I set the timer for 20 minutes and made a box of Uncle Ben’s Original Wild Rice. I hung up and folded the now-dried clothes while everything was cooking.

When the timer went off, I checked the internal temperature (done) and pulled the chicken out. I set it aside to rest for five minutes before cutting into it.

I plated both the chicken and the rice and took a picture for you (this time wiping the edge of my plate).

It was delicious. The mustard gave it a tang that mayonnaise-based Parmesan crusted chicken (which I’ve had before) doesn’t seem to have. Simple to make, and delicious to eat, this recipe is worth keeping!

I watched a little TV, then put the leftovers away and went to bed without cleaning up the mess I made (when you live alone, you can do that, lol!)