Quinoa Chicken Parmesan

I’m always trying to find new ways to make chicken.  I saved this recipe on Pinterest awhile back from the blog Damn Delicious.  Last night when I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner, I realized we had all the ingredients we needed already!

It was very simple to make and much healthier than traditional chicken parmesan.  The only thing I would change from the original recipe is to cook less quinoa – I ended up with way too much leftover which was unusable after being exposed to raw chicken and eggs.  Quinoa quadruples in size once it cooks, so my 1 cup of uncooked quinoa made about 4 cups.  I’d cut it in half and start with ½ cup uncooked. 

Quinoa Chicken Parmesan (adapted from Damn Delicious)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup uncooked quinoa (or 2 cups cooked)
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken fillets
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat flour)
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup marinara sauce (mine was Olive Oil & Garlic Bertolli)
• 1/4 cup basil leaves to garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a cooking sheet with nonstick spray. 

2. Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Stir in Italian seasoning. 

3. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. 

4. Working in batches, dredge chicken in flour, dip into eggs, then dredge in quinoa mixture, pressing to coat. 

5. Place chicken onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Top with cheeses and marinara. Place into oven and bake until cheeses have melted, about 5 more minutes. 

6. Serve immediately, garnished with basil.

We paired the dinner with Sam Adams Porch Rocker – which is my new favorite beer.  It tastes like a mix of traditional Sam Adams and lemonade, so it’s the perfect refreshing drink for hot Florida summer.  At first I could only find it in the Beers of Summer variety pack (which meant I only got 2 per 12 pack), but recently Publix has started selling 6 packs of Porch Rocker on its own. Loved this dinner - I'll definitely make it again!