Parmesan Breaded Chicken and Cheesy Puffed Potatoes

For the most part, my husband and I coexist in a pretty democratic relationship.  We generally agree on almost every decision we make...and on the rare occasion we do eventually just agree to peacefully disagree.  I will fully admit though that in the kitchen I am a complete and total Dictator!  I usually don't take my husband's taste...or lack there of...into consideration when planning dinner.  To his dismay, I expose him to all sorts of crazy experimentations and continue to put evil things like green peppers and onions into the dishes I make.  I am a believer that if you eat something enough times you can make yourself like anything.  My husband believes that I will never change his taste in food.  So our silent battle wages on...I keep hiding things he doesn't like in the food I prepare, he finds them and picks them out.  My husband and I are both extremely stubborn people, but I WILL win!!

I will admit though, that the rice/bean dish I made for Cuban night did have an awful lot of green pepper and onion in it, so I decided to have mercy on my poor husband who is quite possibly the most boring eater in the world.  It seems like every time I ask him if he likes a certain food or ingredient the answer is almost always not really, no or NO!  I'm not sure how I ended up with someone so far on the opposite end of the food spectrum.  I guess it's a good thing for me that he NEVER cooks...not so much for him.  Sorry for his luck. 

I decided that I would put my homemade whole wheat breadcrumbs to good use and make something I know he likes...oven baked Parmesan breaded chicken.  And in honor of my "meat and potatoes" hubby some cheesy puffed potatoes to go along with it.  He recently told me that he is tired of mashed potatoes (seriously?!?), so I went with this as a kind of meet in the middle potato dish.  Adding the egg to the potatoes really makes them nice and puffy...the kids loved them!  Even my husband finished his without any complaints!  Success!!

So in honor of my plain Jane (is their a male version of this saying...Plain Joe or something like that maybe?) husband, I present to you a non-ethnic and unexciting, yet very tasty dinner.  

Parmesan Breaded Chicken

1 - 2 lbs chicken breast

1 1/2 c bread crumbs

1/3 c panko bread crumbs

1/3 c Parmesan cheese

3 tbsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

In a shallow bowl, combine both bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.

In a second shallow bowl, combine the egg and milk and lightly beat.

Dip the chicken breast in the egg mixture and then dredge in the bread crumb mixture.  Press firmly to coat well.  Place in a large greased baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 mins.

Cheesy Puffed Potatoes

6 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 c shredded Cheddar cheese + 1/4 c for topping

1/3 c milk

3 tbsp margarine

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

In a large pan of salted water, boil the potatoes about 20 mins until tender.  Drain the potatoes and place in a large bowl.  Add the milk, butter and salt.  Using an electric hand mixer, beat until smooth.

Add the 1 c. cheese and mix well until cheese is blended in and slightly melted.

Add the egg and blend well.

Place in a greased 8.5" x 11" baking dish.  Bake, uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 30 mins.

Top with remaining 1/4 c cheese and return to oven fir an additional 5 mins.

Parmesan breaded chicken and Cheesy puffed potatoes.

I also served with a salad..no meal is complete without at least ONE thing my husband won't eat!! The Dictator rules!! =)

Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic and Parmesan Sauce over Linguine, Shrimp and Spinach

I love roasted red peppers.  I love garlic.  I love Parmesan cheese.  So I figured why not combine them all to make an easy pasta sauce for some whole grain linguine I was making that night.  I had half a bag of frozen shrimp (sorry, but shelling, deveining and cleaning fresh shrimp isn't my cup of tea) that has been sitting in there for awhile and half a bag of fresh spinach leaves that needed to be used up in the next few days.  I figured those would make a nice addition to my throw together pasta dish.

Roasting garlic is so easy to do and tastes amazing which makes it well worth the time...especially when most of the time is spent baking it in the oven.  There really is very little prep work to it and roasting it in the oven is pretty fool proof.  The texture of roasted garlic is super creamy...almost like butter.  I like spreading a whole clove on a piece of toasted baguette and sprinkling a little pepper and Parmesan cheese on it or better yet turning it into a bruschetta.  YUM!

I have yet to try roasting red peppers, but I do plan on planting a red pepper plant in the garden this year so I might try my hand at it sometime this summer.  This seems slightly more intimidating than roasting garlic.  I do always have a jar of roasted red peppers on hand in the fridge though because I do like to dice them up and throw them on or in a lot of dishes...especially ones that have pasta in it. 

The pasta dish turned out great and the leftovers reheated nicely...I'm going to be finishing them up today for lunch which will be a nice compliment to the rain, thunder and lightning that has unfortunately been forecasted for THE ENTIRE DAY.  Maybe Brenna will feel like doing some baking when she gets home from school today.  I need something to distract her from not being able to play outside this afternoon.  I'm thinking zucchini chocolate chip muffins or sugar cookies might do the trick!

Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic and Parmesan Sauce

1 whole bulb of garlic

1 small onion, cut into quarters

1/2 of a whole roasted red pepper

1/3 c Parmesan cheese

Olive Oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Slice off the top part of the garlic bulb exposing the tops of the cloves.  There is no need to remove the skin from the bulb just yet.

Place on a large sheet of foil and surround with the onions.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Wrap the garlic and onions up in the foil.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 mins.  Once it's done baking, place it aside to cool slightly.

Unwrap the garlic and onions.  It should look something like this.  Roasted garlic...YUM!

Remove the cloves from the skins and discard.  Place the roasted garlic cloves, onion, roasted red pepper and Parmesan cheese in a small food processor and puree well.  Drizzle in olive oil and continue to puree until smooth.

The finished sauce.

In a small pan I steamed the half bag of spinach.

The defrosted shrimp.  Like I said, I don't peel or devein shrimp, but I did remove the tails myself...does that count?!?

In a medium pan, melt 1 tbsp unsalted butter and dd 1 tsp minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.

Add the shrimp and saute for about 3 mins.  The shrimp are already precooked so don't overcook them or they will be rubbery.  Nasty!

In a bowl, combine the cooked linguine, shrimp, spinach and sauce.  Toss well to coat.

I served mine with a little more sauce on the top and some steamed broccoli on the side.

Quick, easy and delicious!