Chicken Parmigiana with Spaghetti Squash {Recipe}

According to the folks at CanolaInfo.org, the trick to a crisp but healthy parmigiana is “bake-frying.” Canola oil is ideal to bake-fry breaded chicken with in a very hot oven because of its high heat tolerance (smoke point 468 °F). Using spaghetti squash instead of angel hair pasta provides four times fewer calories per cup (174 versus 42 calories).
Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeded

1/2 Tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup whole grain flour

1 Tbsp dried oregano

3/4 cup whole grain bread crumbs

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 egg, whisked

4 chicken breasts (3 oz each), pounded until uniform thickness

canola oil cooking spray

2 cups your favorite marinara sauce

1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 °F (200 °C).
2. Brush squash with canola oil and place squash flesh side down on baking sheet. Bake 40 minutes or until squash is tender.
3. While squash is baking, combine flour and oregano in shallow bowl. In second shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs with pepper. In third bowl, add whisked egg.
4. Dip chicken into flour mixture, then egg, then bread crumbs – shake off excess with each step.
5. Mist breaded chicken with canola oil cooking spray on both sides and place on baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, top with marinara and Parmesan cheese and bake additional 15 minutes until heated and cheese is melted.
6. Once squash is cooled, pull fork through flesh, creating spaghetti-like strands.
7. Serve chicken on top of spaghetti squash and sprinkle with fresh basil.

Yield: 4 servings.

Serving size: 3 oz chicken and 1 cup spaghetti squash.

Nutritional Analysis per Serving:
Calories  400

Total Fat  10 g

Saturated Fat 2.5 g

Cholesterol  125 mg

Sodium  360 mg

Potassium  580 mg

Carbohydrates  40 g

Fiber  7 g

Sugars 11 g

Protein  37 g

(Disclosure: Recipe and image courtesy of canolainfo.org. This is not a compensated post.)