When I worked at a doctors office, we used to get lunch catered a lot. There was this one company, Lettuce Eat, that was awesome, she always had delicious salads and desserts but my absolute favorite thing she made was green beans! Of course I never got the recipe but ever since having her's, I've been on a mission to replicate them.

On my quest for the perfect tender-crisp green bean, I've steamed, baked, roasted and fried. Through trial and many, many error I found roasting the best, not to mention it only takes 15 minutes! 

So to get started, I rinsed and cut the tips off all my beans, I only used about 1/2 lb

To make my life easier, I put my beans on a foil lined tray

Drizzled a little oil, salt and pepper over them

Then stuck them in the oven @ 425 for 15 minutes, shaking them around halfway through

For me, these were the perfect combination of soft and crunchy. But of course, you can roast them longer or shorter based on your preference

As you may be able to tell, I ate quite a few before taking the photo because they were amazing straight out of the oven! But I stuck to my plan and the Parmesan just set it off! And voila, my copycat original recipe was born

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

Serves 2

1 lb fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed

2 T Parmesan cheese

1-2 T vegetable oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 and line a cookie sheet or tray with aluminum foil

2. Place green beans in one single layer on tray and drizzle with oil

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix up to coat all beans evenly

4. Roast beans in oven for 15 minutes, shaking tray to roll beans over halfway through

food green beans healthy Parmesan sides vegetable

9:11 PM

Chicken parm is a classic that I love to make because it's really easy and filling! My mom taught me how to make this recipe and unlike how I do with a lot of recipes, I stick to the script on this one. But if you're looking for something a bit different, check out my spinach parm recipe!

I'm not sure how everyone else makes theirs but we bake ours, although I have occasionally done it on the stove top if i don't have that much chicken but for the purpose of this post I did it just like mama taught me :)

So to get started gather the ingredients above (normally I use mozzarella but I had this in the fridge and it worked just fine) and preheat your oven to 400.

Crack the egg into a bowl and whip it up, dump some breadcrumbs on a plate then cut your chicken into however many pieces you want.

Dip the chicken pieces into the egg then the breadcrumbs, make sure to get it coated nicely

Next, heat some oil in a skillet and brown your chicken but don't cook it through, you just want a browned coating

Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce in a baking dish to just cover the bottom

Lay your chicken pieces in the dish and cover them with more tomato sauce, make sure it's enough for your noodles too. I always use a lot because I like mine really saucy

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and chicken is done. While that's in the oven go ahead and cook your pasta, any kind will do, mine changes every time I make it depending on what's in the cabinet

When your chicken is done remove the aluminum foil and sprinkle cheese over the chicken and put it back in oven, uncovered, just until the cheese melts

Let it cool on the counter for a bit then dig in!

Chicken Parmesan

Serves 2

1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

1 can tomato sauce

~1 C mozzarella cheese

2 C pasta

1 egg

3/4 C breadcrumbs

Tonys or salt/pepper

Oil

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 and cook pasta according to directions

2. Crack egg into a bowl and whip. Pour breadcrumbs onto a plate. 

3. Season chicken then dip into egg first then breadcrumbs, make sure to coat evenly

4. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and brown chicken on both sides, but don't cook through 

5. Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce in a baking dish then place chicken in and cover with more sauce

6. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through

7. Remove aluminum foil, sprinkle cheese over chicken pieces and put back in oven, uncovered, until cheese melts

bake chicken food Italian Parmesan pasta

9:09 PM

Seafood is hands down my favorite meat to cook (and eat!) because it takes no time and I'm a bayou baby, that's what we do! So one day when I was browsing Pinterest I came across this recipe for Parmesan Crusted Chicken but I was in a fishy mood so I decided to try it some tilapia I had in the freezer. 

This recipe was pretty straightforward so it only took about 15 minutes from prep to plate! So to get started dump all your dry ingredients on a plate and mix it up 

Crack your egg into a bowl and whip that up

This was my first time trying the dry-wet-dry method in the oven, it's heaven on fried goodies like wings! But it turned out awesome, so first place the filets in the breadcrumb mixture and coat it

*admittedly this filet was dunked in egg first by accident lol, I was getting ahead of myself!*

Then dip them in the egg wash and get it nice and eggy! Oh and don't be like me, use a fork or tongs if you have them lol I'm always making a mess

Finally dip them back into the breadcrumb mixture and make sure everything's coated

Then place the filets in a lightly greased or lined baking dish or cookie sheet. I used a cookie sheet and a little grill plate so that they'd brown all over evenly

Drizzle a little olive oil on them and pop them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness. 

They're done when they flake easily, are white on the inside and golden brown!

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

serves 2

4 tilapia filets

1 1/2 C breadcrumbs

1/2 C Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1-2 T olive oil

Seasoning to taste (I used Tonys and garlic powder)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Line or grease a cookie sheet or baking dish for the fish

2. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese and seasonings on a plate and mix thoroughly. Crack egg into a bowl and whip until combined.

3. One at a time place each filet into the breadcrumb mixture first, egg wash then back into the breadcrumb mixture. 

4. Place filets on baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.

5. Bake fish in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and white on the inside.

baked fish food Parmesan

9:08 PM

Now who dare take my precious tomato sauce out of one of my all time favorite dishes and replace it with spinach? Idk but I'm glad they did! It was a nice change of pace plus the spinach saves some calories which is always a good thing! I traditionally serve pasta with my chicken parm but I subbed it for brown rice in this recipe and it was delicious. I'm sure you could do pasta as well but that'd add a few more calories.

I was feeling good about this being a low calorie dish so I went light with the sides as well, steamed broccoli and half a baked sweet potato. I did splurge on the butter and cinnamon sugar for my potato, which I highly recommend!!! 

For 2 servings:

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

3 cups raw spinach

3/4 cups milk (I used evaporated milk)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 T minced garlic

1/2 T butter

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup brown rice

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella

Oil (to cook chicken)

Sides

1 1/2 cup broccoli

1 sweet potato

1/2 T butter

Cinnamon sugar, salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

Cook brown rice according to package (I always start my brown rice first because it takes a while, usually about 45 minutes or so).

Throw your sweet potato in the microwave after poking some holes in it. Alternatively, you could bake it but that takes forever!

Heat a pan on med-high, add whatever oil you want to use, I use olive oil. Place chicken **i cut mine in half twice, so I had 4 pieces** in pan and cook until done (you can season it if you want, I always throw a little Tony's on just about everything). Remove and set aside

In the same pan cook your spinach until wilted, remove and set aside.

Add butter to pan and heat until foam subsides then add garlic and cook until a little browned.

Pour in milk and slowly add Parmesan, stirring so it doesn't clump. Let sauce simmer until it thickens. Season to taste.

Steam your broccoli *If you're like me and want to save on dishes, steam the broccoli above your boiling rice so those "lost nutrients" get infused into your rice!

Once sauce thickens add spinach and chicken back into pan and heat thoroughly. 

Place two pieces of chicken atop half of the brown rice then spoon spinach Parmesan mixture over it, immediately sprinkle with half of the mozzarella so that the heat from the sauce will melt it. 

Season your broccoli and sweet potato to your liking, plate and eat!

Hope you try it and love it! The entire meal in under 400 calories (sides included) so how could you not? =)

chicken food Parmesan spinach

11:03 AM