Whats Cooking?

     Lately, I have found myself wanting to try a million new recipes. Growing up, my mom always had a fresh home-cooked meal ready to eat at 5:30pm everyday. The meals were never anything crazy or gourmet, but had that soul food vibe of comfort food. I realized, when I was about to graduate college, that I really didn't know how to cook a ton of meals and wished there was more to life than mac and cheese and occasional taco nights.

     I got online and started searching for easy recipes that required few ingredients and were somewhat healthy. To me, food can be as healthy and delicious as you want it. You can make really delicious foods very healthy by the types of ingredients you buy. Lately, I have been opting for gluten free products and low cal/low sugar choices. Places like Trader Joes and Whole Foods make healthy cooking a breeze. Prices are always affordable and everything usually is natural.

     I have found that instead of making just healthy snacks/food (which typically tastes bland) you can incorporate healthy/natural ingredients in food groups like potato casserole or a bisque soup! With a boyfriend who wont settle for cardboard, I have made this my job to try and whip up mouth watering meals that take little time.

     Recently I have made tasty new casseroles, salmon burgers, lobster ravioli, etc. Due to the hype on Instagram about the recipes, I am going to try and post one weekly that I have tried, conquered and loved. Being a good cook is just another great notch to anyone's belt so why not give it a try!? Eating what you love is such an important quality of life! Below is the recipe I used for Parmesan-lemon crusted chicken. It was to die for!

Ingredients

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups dry breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• Lemon wedges

Preparation

Pound each chicken piece to thickness of 1/2 inch between sheets of waxed paper. Place chicken in baking dish. Pour 4 tablespoons lemon juice over chicken and turn to coat. Let stand 10 minutes. Beat eggs with remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice in medium bowl. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan and lemon peel in shallow dish. Dip 1 chicken breast into egg mixture. Dip into breadcrumbs to coat; gently shake off excess. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat with remaining chicken, egg mixture and breadcrumbs.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 of chicken to skillet and sauté until golden brown and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to platter and keep warm. Repeat with remaining chicken in 2 more batches, adding 1 tablespoon butter with each batch. Garnish platter with lemon wedges and serve.