Crunchy Italian Chicken

I've been wanting to try Panko for awhile now. I've seen it on Paula Deen, Rachel Ray, and in several cooking magazines. Panko is Japanese breadcrumbs. When I found a recipe in my Weight Watcher cookbook that called for panko, I had to try it. I goofed up and bought plain panko when the recipe called for italian, so I seasoned the panko with garlic salt, oregano, and Italian seasoning. I liked it. I tasted very similar to ordinary bread crumbs but seemed to coat the chi ken a little better and not clump up so much. I liked this recipe. Greg liked it but thought it was a little plain. Also, I skipped the step where it called for pounding the chicken, because I thought it'd be easier to just cook the chicken a little longer.

Weight Watcher Crunchy Italian Chicken
Points: 6
Servings 2

* 1/3 cup Italian-style panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
* 1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmesan cheese
* 2 (6 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast halves
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* cooking spray
* 1 cup grape tomatoes


1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Combine panko and Parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl; set aside
3. Place chicken between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap, and pound to 1/2 inch thickness using a meat mallet or heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with pepper. Dredge chicken breasts in panko mixture, pressing mixture onto chicken, if necessary.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan, and cook 3 minutes. Coat top of chicken with cooking spray; turn and cook 3 minutes
5. Transfer chicken to baking sheet, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 450 for 5 to 6 minutes or until done.
6. While chicken bakes, add tomatoes to hot skillet, and cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to burs. Serve tomatoes over chicken.



I got this out of Weight Watchers 20 minute recipes