Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Romaine Hearts

I never once had a doubt about this chicken.  What was there to worry about?  Chicken baked with a Parmesan Panko crust?  Yes please.  And so what if it called for fresh parsley?  What else do I have a spice cabinet full of bottles for if not to avoid having to use not so yummy stuff like parsley?  This chicken, as far as I was concerned was going to be good - easy, peasy, lemon squeezey.  (What a truly horrible phrase...)

As not to be too much of a tease, I will start right off by saying, I was right.  It was terribly delicious.  A simple sub-in of 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence and bam.  Exactly what I expected.  What I did not expect was to be so utterly enthralled by the player occupying the other half of my cookie sheet.

 I was very close to not even bothering with the roasted romaine.  I was pretty sure it would be strange and weird and something I would end up eating simply to not waste food.  But then I remembered the whole "try new things!  blog!"  thing I've been trying to pull off for almost a year now, and decided to go for it.  (I did chicken out on the chopped anchovy toppings.  One hurdle at a time...)

And it was good.  Crunchy, flavorful, so simple to make.  Even after heating up my leftovers the next day for lunch, a task I was sure would yield soggy lettuce leaves amidst my chicken and potatoes, I remained pleasantly surprised.  It still had some crisp, some crunch to it.  It was shockingly exciting.  I never would have guessed that throwing romaine hearts in the oven would get me so excited, so pumped, but here we are.  I have gone and spent the majority of this post raving about lettuce.  Who would have known?

 The star of this dish is really the Parmesan chicken, but there was never really any doubt about that.  And even if it's not brimming with originality, it is still very good.  Which might just make it the perfect partner for an exciting new discovery like roasted romaine....

Parmesan Chicken with Roasted Romaine Hearts
Adapted from Bon Appetit March 2012

My grocery store had skinless chicken breasts on sale cheap, but they were not boneless.  A fact I did not discover until I was home and about ready to pat some topping on them.  They worked, but required additional cooking time.  Boneless would work much better and would probably let you eat leftovers at work a bit more civilized.  I listed BA's cooking time, because mine was thrown off by the bone-in breasts.  If you don't have herbs de Provence, any dried spice would do nicely... rosemary, oregano, whatever you got hanging out in your spice cabinet.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to season
1 1/2 oz (~1/2 c.) grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. panko breadcrumbs
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 Tbsp. herbs de Provence
2 garlic cloves, minced, divided
2 large romaine hearts

Preheat oven to 450.  Line large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Season chicken breasts thoroughly on both sides with salt and pepper.  Place on baking sheet.

In small bowl, combine Parmesan cheese, panko, 2 tablespoons olive oil, herbs and 1 garlic cloves.  Mix to combine, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed.  Pat mixture onto top side of chicken breasts.  Put chicken in oven and bake until topping begins to turn golden, about 10 minutes.

Halve romaine hearts length wise.  Season with salt and pepper and drizzle evenly with remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Sprinkle with remaining clove of minced garlic.  Remove chicken from oven (once breadcrumb mixture has turned golden).  Add romaine halves to sheet and return to oven.  Continue to roast until chicken is thoroughly cooked and romaine had browned around the edges, about 5 minutes more.  Enjoy!

Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte

 

Work lately has been grand.  Word has gotten around that I'm a big fan of fresh produce and lots of the guys are using that as an excuse to pawn off their garden excess.  I have as of late found myself with bags brimming with squash, cucumbers and on one very lucky occasion, beautiful, big blackberries.  But, and I am sorry but there is no other way to say this, it is both a blessing and a curse.  There are only so many things you can do with summer squash.  And disguising them in tortes, hidden between layers of yukon gold potatoes so your boyfriend doesn't notice you're feeding him vegetables, is one of them.

It should come as no surprise that when I went hunting online for recipes to use up my free harvest, my first stop was at the smitten kitchen.  And while I really do promise that I look elsewhere for cooking inspiration, my blog crush has saved me several times when I needed kitchen help.  It makes sense that it is my first stop on any recipe scavenger hunt.  And wouldn't you know it, but my first search resulted in a recipe that was actually already on my "recipes to try" list.  

All I needed was some potatoes and fresh thyme.  

Only I kind of really hate buying a bunch of fresh herbs at $3 a pop, using 2 springs and never being able to use the rest before it goes bad and then laying them to rest in my garbage can.  So I made the executive decision to use dried instead.  It's economical, less wasteful and surely I had some dried thyme in my spice cupboard I told myself.  And then I got home.  Well, actually a few hours later at 8 pm when I started to throw together dinner, I realized that last bit was more or less false.  Dried thyme was no where to be found.  I pulled out a few that I thought could be viable alternatives: oregano, rosemary, basil, but none of them really seemed to be agreeable to me at that moment.  And then there was my mason jar full of herbs de Provence, still hanging around from my trip to Seattle and Pike's Market.  One of the more underused herbs I have, I still love herbs de Provence every time I use it.  Some of that love is definitely for the pretty dried purple lavender flowers nestled among the herbs, which - hey, wouldn't you know it - included thyme.  I found my substitution.

The smell of the potatoes browning in the oven layered with Parmesan cheese and herbs de Provence was mesmerizing.  It was about 30 minutes of an apartment filled with yummy, homey, fresh baked aromas.  It was Ben's first comment as he walked through the door.  A few minutes later it was out of the oven and on our plates.  While Ben wasn't overwhelmed with the torte, I kept finding myself going back for seconds and thirds.  I wasn't blown away by the first bite, but I ate till I was full.  And I am really looking forward to my leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I could definitely try this again.  I imagine with some zucchini would be good and maybe even some yummy mascarpone smeared in between the layers.  And I may just have to try this again, my produce drawer is more than heavy in the squash department.    

Herbed Summer Squash and Potato Torte

Inspired by the great Smitten Kitchen

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced and divided

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. flour

1/2 Tbsp. Herbs de Provence

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, about 3 medium sized

6 oz. yellow crookneck squash, 1 medium sized (zucchini may be delicious as well)

3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter an 8-inch bake pan.  (If using a glass dish, reduce by 25 degrees and preheat to 350)

Slice potatoes and squash into 1/8 inch rounds.  (I suggest using a mandolin.  But be careful.  Sliced my finger something bad while cleaning the thing.  It's a love hate relationship).  Set aside 2 tablespoons of green onions.  Mix remaining onions and next 5 ingredients, through pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

In prepared pan, layered 1/3 of sliced potatoes in concentric circles, overlapping slightly.  Layer 1/2 of squash slices on top.  Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle with 1/3 of onion/cheese mixture.  Press layers down slightly.  Repeat: potatoes, squash, oil, cheese, potatoes, oil, cheese.  Press gently to flatten.

Cover pan with foil and bake until potatoes are almost tender, about 40 minutes.  Remove foil from torte and continue baking until it is browned and potatoes are tender, about 20-25 minutes longer.   Remove from onion and sprinkle with leftover green onions.  Slice into wedges and serve.