Chicken Parm with Zoodles

Anyone else have mountains of zucchini that seem to multiply daily? Even eating zucchini on a daily basis doesn't seem to make a dent in the amount we have! And really, after eating it daily for 5 or 6 weeks, you have to figure out some new ways to cook it. We've been using zucchini in place of pasta for spaghetti and lasagna, but last night we decided to try making Chicken Parmesan with the zoodles. One word.....yum! It was such a great combination! 

For the chicken.....

Chicken breast, cut into thin pieces (about a pound)
1 c bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 c Parmesan cheese
2 T Italian seasoning
Salt
Flour

Preheat a large skillet on about medium heat and add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
In a large ziploc bag, mix bread crumbs, cheese, Italian seasoning and salt. Dust chicken with flour, dip in egg, then toss into bag until chicken is coated. Pan fry until chicken is cooked through, then place in an oven to keep warm. Just before serving, top with additional cheese and put back in the oven until it melts.

For the sauce....

2 c tomato sauce
1 onion, diced
4 teaspoons minced garlic
2 T Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the garlic and onion until soft in a medium pan with some olive oil. Stir in tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Keep on low until ready to serve, stirring occasionally.

For the zoodles....

4 medium zucchini
2 T butter
1/4 c Parmesan cheese

Using a vegetable spiralizer, cut the zucchini into long strips.



Cook by either sauteing in a pan or by boiling for 2-3 minutes. Drain and stir in butter and cheese.

Now all that's left is to assemble your plate and enjoy! Now to figure out what to do with the  rest of the zucchini mountain.....

Zucchini Lasagna

In my many hours of skimming pinterest, I keep seeing pins for lasagna using zucchini instead of noodles. I'll be honest-I didn't stop and actually read any of the instructions. And we all know what happens when I do that. I'm happy to report that this time wasn't quite as disastrous and now I can share the lessons I learned! I love that this is a veggie packed meal with so much flavor (and CHEESE) but nearly guilt free.

What you'll need:

2 large zucchini
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cooked and diced
2 c fat free ricotta
6 oz baby bella mushrooms
1 medium bag of baby spinach
4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced
2 c shredded Parmesan cheese (the good stuff, not the weird cheese like stuff in the can)
Italian seasoning to taste
Garlic powder to taste
2 Tablespoons bread crumbs (optional)

First, I cut the zucchini into long strips using a wire cheese slicer. I'm going to guess they were about 1/4" thick. They need to be study enough to hold up the filling of the lasagna, but thin enough to still cook through in the oven. Pictures would be helpful here, but hey-I'm working with afterthoughts here so we're using some Creative Commons photos.

photo by Gloria Cabada-Leman https://flic.kr/p/bpGyED 

Here's one of the things I learned after the fact....par cook the zucchini to reduce the moisture. The dish will work if you don't, but you'll have a lot of veggie water in the pan-not very appetizing. Next time I make it, I'm going to just toss these in a non stick pan for a few to draw some moisture out. I may do that with the spinach too.

Line the bottom of an 8x8 dish with strips of zucchini. Next add half of the spinach, half of the chicken, half of the mushrooms, half the ricotta, a good sprinkling of the Italian seasoning and some garlic, a third of the mozzarella and a third of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat. Top with remaining zucchini strips, cheese and bread crumbs. Bake at 375 until all the cheese is melted and center of lasagna is hot. That took about 45 minutes for me.

And the leftovers make a great lunch the next day! 

I wasn't very organized while I was making this and realized as soon as I put it in the oven that I forgot to put the mushrooms in. Oops! So I had to carefully pull back strips of zucchini to add it all in, which led to clumps of mushrooms and sections without any. Oh well...it still turned out tasty! With the healthy versions of the classic lasagna ingredients, I was able to cut the calories down to about 237 per serving! And that included the breadcrumbs. If you skip those, it would be even less. This lasagna is super cheesy and very filling.

Squash-browns

We have really been enjoying these make ahead breakfast sandwiches lately. We decided to have them again this week for breakfast, but I wanted to do something a little different. Two thoughts came to mind:

1) I really should eat more vegetables, especially at breakfast. I have no problem getting enough fruit in each day, and I love vegetables but still sometimes struggle getting in enough servings. Why not add more at breakfast?

2) I love potatoes. I love hash browns with breakfast. I should incorporate hash browns into my breakfasts more often.