Lightly Fried Chicken with Salad

For a simple dinner, this is a great recipe. If you have a meat tenderizer/hammer thing (I think I could kill someone if I hit them with the tenderizer side!!!) then you can just buy regular fat chicken breasts and hammer them thinner. Or you can spend a bit more and get the skinny chicken breast pieces.

Things you need to make this:
chicken breasts (as many as you want - we use about 1 pound for the two of us and we usually have leftovers)
bread crumbs or panko flakes - I switch back and forth between them both but we are on a panko kick as of late
parmesan cheese (grated)
eggs
flour
regular oil and olive oil
lettuce
tomatoes
whatever you else you want to put in your salad
lemon

How to make this recipe:
First get your salad ready. Cut and wash your lettuce (I hate big chunks, I always chop it). Add tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese (my favorite), red peppers, whatever else you want. Get that ready in a bowl.

Depending on how much chicken you are using I would start with just one egg and I would beat it in a bowl.
Add a small handful of flour to one plate.
On a second plate add a handful of panko flakes and a handful of parmesan cheese. Mix the two up together.

Put a frying pan on a burner and add a bunch of canola/vegetable oil to the pan. More than enough to coat and a little extra! You are not deep frying here so don't go off the deep end. Heat this up until it is sizzling and ready to FRY.

First dip your chicken breast (hammered or not hammered) into the flour and coat it. Then dip it into the egg and coat it all the way. Then dip it into the panko/cheese mixture. Add the chicken breasts to the hot oil and fry about 3 minutes on each side. If your chicken is super thick you might need longer on each side. Make sure the chicken is not burning. Once the oil is heated up you should turn it down to about medium or so.

If you have lots of chicken you might need to replenish your supply of oil in your frying pan.
When the chicken is done frying put it on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain some of the oil.

When all the chicken is finished you can slice it up if you like and put it over a plate of salad.

The dressing!!! I squeeze an entire lemon and then I whisk in a tablespoon or two of olive oil AND THAT IS IT. I think this time I used my amazing Italian-ish dressing, but usually I just use the lemon juice and olive oil.

Best Salad Dressing Ever (Italian-ish)

For those of you that need exact amounts, please email me. I am just going to tell you how I make this. My mom will roll over in her bed when she reads this b/c while I look up to her as this fantastic cook, she cannot do things without measurements.

So this really is my favorite dressing. My mom made it when we were younger and then she stopped when we got all healthy. I'm not sure I find it sooooo bad for you....but those of you on a diet will probably tell me why I shouldn't eat it anymore - or how it has contributed to my 5-6 pound weight gain in the past 2 months.

So this is my trusty salad dressing holder thing-a-ma-jig. Tom's mom gave it to me and I adore it. It has a night tight top so that I can shake shake shake my dressing to mix it all up.

Best Salad Dressing Ever

In a salad dressing jar/container thing (something you can shake without getting it all over yourself) dump the following:

about 1 cup of oil (sadly not olive oil....vegetable or canola - your choice)
about 1/3 cup vinegar (red or white...I switch back and forth - just changes the overall color)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese (you know where I stand her...I like terrible Kraft) 
a few sprinkles of paprika (maybe 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon)
a few sprinkles of salt and pepper
probably 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of parsley (dried) -
 If you don't do this already you should. Whenever I buy parsley I cut it ALL up and use what I need. Then I put all the rest in a small bowl in my fridge so that I have fresh "dried" parsley
a bunch of shakes of celery salt (so yummy...go buy some now). Probably 1/2 a teaspoon
some minced garlic (once again I am gross so I just buy it in the jar already minced and I plop a spoonful in)
a small shake of dried basil (I love basil, but I don't love dried basil, so I don't put very much in)
It was brought to my attention by recipe followers (my mom and Allison) that the recipe called for a little bit of sugar (I never do that) and some ground mustard. I DEFINITELY would add the mustard. I like to do a bit of ground mustard and a bit of mustard seeds. Sorry!!

Shake it all up and pour some on your salad. It's sort of like an Italian dressing, but honestly, and I know I might lose some readers here, I sometimes lick it off the plate when I am all done. Gross I know, but if it isn't me doing it then it's the dog.

I also think this dressing goes AMAZING with a salad with feta (who wouldn't want feta in their salad) and shredded carrots. The dressing just sits in the carrots and sometimes I just shred carrot and feta and I don't even add lettuce.