Basic Healthy Breaded Chicken

I recently have fallen in love with breading chicken.  It makes it moist and traps flavors in and is just amazing.  Plus, if you cook it in the oven, its pretty good for you.  These are Mel's healthy chicken nuggets, but I used them as breaded chicken with pasta one time.  They are a little boring (b/c they are made to be dipped in something).  I feel like these are a great base for breading chicken, plus Danielle, Hailey would probably like these.

I also feel like you could do whatever you want with these.  I decided afterwards that if I would have marinaded them in italian dressing first, and then breaded them, they would have been wonderful as a stand alone.  Or if you doubled the spices they would probably have enough flavor.

Regardless, this is a good basic breaded chicken with a multitude of adaptabilities.

Oh and I thought this was gross warmed up...so don't make left overs

Adapted from Mels Kitchen Cafe: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/04/healthy-chicken-nuggets-baked.html


INGREDIENTS:
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cup panko crumbs (except I used normal bread crumbs of the wal-mart variety)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon water
4 large (about 2 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Mix together basil, oregano, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and Panko crumbs on a plate or a pie plate.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg whites and water until well combined. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Toss the chicken in the egg white/olive oil mixture before taking a few of them at a time and rolling them in the bread crumb mixture to coat evenly.

Place the coated chicken nuggets on the prepared baking sheet and bake until cooked through.  Probably anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on the size and thickness of the chicken.  Serve immediately.