Chicken Milanese with Arugula or Spinach Salad

Serves 4**

Recipe from Everyday Food May 2008

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

This is really good and worthy of company. Arugula is a delicious peppery green. When you bring it home, give it a good soak in cold water right away, spin it dry in your salad spinner and then place it in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of the fridge. It’ll then be ready to go for salads or sandwiches. The bite of lemon, arugula, and onion cuts through the richness of these crisp chicken cutlets. Use baby spinach if arugula isn't available. You can skip step 3 if you buy chicken at Lost River Market & Deli that’s already thinly sliced, which makes this dish even more quick to prepare. I served these with potatoes I roasted in the oven at the same time I baked the chicken.

1 ¼ cups plain dried breadcrumbs 

¼ cup plus 2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup all-purpose flour or whole-wheat flour

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Coarse salt and ground pepper

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 6 ounces each)

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (From about ½ a lemon, cut the other ½ lemon into wedges for serving)

5 ounces baby arugula (Use baby spinach if arugula isn’t available.)

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss breadcrumbs and oil until well combined; spread on sheet. Cook, tossing once, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl.

2. Place flour and eggs in separate bowls; season with salt and pepper. Place a rack on another rimmed baking sheet.

3. One at a time, place chicken breasts between two large pieces of plastic wrap. Using a meat mallet or bottom of a small heavy pan, pound until 1/2 inch thick.

4. Coat chicken on both sides with flour (shaking off excess), then dip in eggs (allowing excess to drip off); dredge in breadcrumbs, pressing firmly to adhere.

5. Bake chicken on rack, without turning, until opaque throughout, 10 to 15 minutes.

6. In a bowl, whisk together remaining 2 tablespoons oil and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Add arugula and onion; toss. Top chicken with salad; serve with lemon wedges on the side.

**Note: The recipe says this makes 4 servings, but when the chicken breasts are pounded out (or even bought thinly sliced) the breasts fill up half a dinner plate. You could certainly cut the chicken in half crossways after they are cooked and get twice the servings. (Remember, a serving of meat should only be the size of a deck of cards.) This will save you calories and money!



Per Serving: (See Alice's note above) 590 Calories; 27 g fat (4.6 g sat. fat); 49.1 g protein; 35.9 g carb; 2.7 g fiber