Italian Chicken

There's chicken hiding under there. I promise.

Dinner inspiration can strike at the most random times. I was in my spin class, suffering through another hill-climb-sprint-c'mon-push it-let's go-you-can-do-it, when I remembered that I didn't have a plan for dinner. I had defrosted chicken earlier in the day, but was at a loss for how to prepare it. Then, as I mentally cursed my sadistic instructor, I remembered watching Giada make chicken parmesan, and I thought "Okay, I can do that, just minus the cheese." Funny how I think about food during my spin class.

Alex and I both thought this was pretty tasty. Next time, I'll fuss a little more with the sauce, like saute more onions and garlic before-hand, maybe with some mushrooms or other veggies. It's great with a green salad and crusty bread to help soak up all the sauce. I'm sure you could top it with cheese, but in my opinion, why ruin a good thing? It's fairly healthy as-is, so you can make this without the cheese and you won't even miss it.

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

2-3 TBS flour

Italian seasoning (dried oregano, basil, garlic, pepper)

1 onion

1 clove garlic

1 jar pasta sauce or 1 can crushed tomatoes

Optional - other veggies

Cooking spray

Instructions:

Take the chicken and trim it into smaller "tender" sized pieces. Place each piece between plastic wrap and pound until thin. Mix together flour and spices and then lightly dredge each piece of chicken. Be sure to shake off the excess.

Lightly coat a non-stick pan with cooking spray, and allow the pan to get hot (med-high). Once it's hot, sear chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side, until it's browned. Doesn't have to be done all the way through, but it will be mostly cooked because it's so thin. Remove the chicken and set aside.

Spray pan again and saute up the onions and garlic for 5 minutes, until softened. Add other veggies if using. Pour in sauce and allow it to come to a light bubble. Add the chicken back into the sauce, turn down heat and simmer until chicken is hot and cooked through.