Parmesan Crusted Chicken with a Greek Twist

I first made this recipe when my sister in law was visiting from Greece.  We were both watching the TV commercial about the Hellman's Parmesan crusted chicken and thought we should try it.  The first time I made it I downloaded the recipe from the Hellman's website.  It turned out good, but not the way I would have liked it.  I had to put some Greek flair in it.  So I made it again and added my own Greek twist. The original recipe only has  4 ingredients in it: the chicken, the Parmesan, the bread crumbs, and the mayo.  I substituted the Parmesan cheese with fresh grated Romano cheese, added grey poupon and lemon juice, plain bread crumbs on some of the chicken breasts and gluten free breadcrumbs at another, since my daughter is on a gluten free diet.  It's any easy dish to make and goes well with rice and a spinach/romaine salad on the side.  Enjoy!

Makes 6 servings (appr. 6 oz. each)

1/4 cup  Hellman's Mayonnaise made with Canola oil

2 oz. Romano cheese

1 3/4 lbs. boneless chicken breasts (about 4 chicken breasts)

4 tsp. bread crumbs

1 tbsp. grey poupon mustard

1 tbsp. lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the mayo with the mustard and lemon juice; sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well.  Spread it over the chicken breasts.  Top with the bread crumbs, the shredded cheese and bake at 425 degree oven for ½ hour till chicken is done.  (The mayonnaise topping keeps the chicken nice and moist and not dry).

Note: you can mix the shredded cheese with the mayonnaise mixture.  I skipped that step and sprinkled the cheese on top the breadcrumbs.  Either way it tastes good. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 serving (158.3 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories 357

Calories from Fat 172

Total Fat 19.1g

Saturated Fat 5.7g

Cholesterol 131mg

Sodium 359mg

Total Carbohydrates 1.5g

Dietary Fiber 0.1g

Sugars 0.2g

Protein 41.5g

Ranch dressing with Greek yogurt

You didn’t think that I was going to buy store bought ranch dressing, did you?

Lately, I’ve been craving a nice crisp romaine salad. It might be that the weather is getting warmer, the leaves on the trees are slowly budding; or it might be that I hear the birds chirping in the morning. Or is it because we changed the time, and it feels that spring is near? It could be any of these things, but I was craving a salad. I am not usually someone who can eat salads all the time. My diet does not consist of a salad. If I want to lose weight, salad is not the meal that I would go for. If I made a salad, it is usually loaded with feta cheese, kalamata olives, boiled beets, or roasted red peppers. And of course loaded with salad dressing. So I found it surprising enough that I craved a salad. Since I watch what I buy, and I don’t like all the preservatives that the store bought salad dressing have, I decided to experiment with ranch dressing. Therefore, I searched on the internet to find a recipe for ranch dressing. Most of them had sour cream and buttermilk. I use skim milk in all my recipes that require milk, even the creamy sauces. I finally found a ranch-dressing recipe on the foodnetwork.com that Ellie Krieger made. But alas, she used onion powder, and buttermilk, and garlic salt and real mayo. I had to make my own version. I skipped the garlic powder for real shredded garlic, the real mayo, for mayonnaise made with canola oil, the buttermilk for skim milk and her chopped chives for the green part of the scallions. And here it is my version of Ranch dressing. It tastes like the real one without all the preservatives or the calories. Enjoy!!!

Ranch dressing with Greek Yogurt 

Makes 1 ½ cups – about 10 servings of 2 tablespoons each serving

½ cup non fat plain Greek yogurt (like Oikos or Fage)

½ cup skim milk

4 tbsp light mayonnaise

1 ½ tsp lemon juice

1 tsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp garlic shredded with the cheese grater or pressed through a garlic press

¼ cup the green part of green onions, chopped very fine

¼ tsp dry dill

Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients and serve over romaine salad. It is also great for dipping fresh vegetables. If you would like thicker consistency for dipping, reduce the amount of milk to ¼ cup.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1serving(34.6g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories 31
Calories from Fat 16
Total Fat 1.8g
Saturated Fat 0.3g
TransFat 0.0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 77mg
Total Carbohydrates 1.9g
Dietary Fiber 0.1g
Sugars 1.2g
Protein 1.7g