Parmesan Chicken with Caesar Roasted Romaine

This parmesan chicken with caesar roasted romaine recipe from Bon Appetit is one of my favorites lately. It is all on one pan in the oven, so clean up is minimal and the end result is amazing.

The chicken is coated in a panko-based breading. I used lots of extra garlic -- the recipe calls for 1 clove in the breading, but, obviously, I took it to the extreme.

Combine the garlic, panko, parmesan (or similar cheese) and olive oil in a bowl. The recipe calls for parsley; however, I used a Creamy Peppercorn dressing base, from Penzey's Spices, in its place. 

Coat the chicken breasts in the mixture. I cut boneless, skinless breasts into halves to make slightly smaller pieces, then flatten them slightly with a meat tenderizer hammer thingy (how's that for technical kitchen talk). This helps the chicken cook slightly faster, more evenly, and, in the end, ends up to be moist and evenly cooked.

While the chicken is baking (the recipe says about 10 minutes, in my oven it takes closer to 20) cut the romaine hearts in half. 

Once the chicken is done and the crust is just barely starting to brown, pull out the pan and place the romaine on the baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil on the romaine and sprinkle with remaining garlic. (Again, I really like garlic...so I use a lot.) I also sprinkled the romaine with a little of the Peppercorn dressing base I mentioned earlier as opposed to salt and pepper.

Place the entire pan back in the oven until the romaine begins to brown, only about 5-7 minutes (even in my slow oven). 

Place one roasted half-romaine heart on the plate along with some chicken. Top the lettuce with anchovies and serve with lemon wedges.

I think the anchovies really add an amazing depth of flavor, don't skip them...please...at least try them? I used to hate anchovies, but have lately began to love them in certain contexts. Even Mr. X will eat them (although I didn't mention they were on the dish until he had already tried it). 

If you have leftovers (we always do) you can take them to work. I use the toaster oven to heat the chicken, then throw the (uncooked) lettuce directly into the toaster oven along with the chicken. I think that may be part of the reason I love this recipe...I can eat it multiple times throughout the week. Or maybe I just love it because it is amazingly delicious.

From Bon Appetit (March 2012).