Recipe: Crusted Chicken Parmesan with Roasted Green Beans

Editor's note: This post was written by Missy Chase Lapine from The Sneaky Chef and published with permission by Skinny Mom.

This is a super-simple way of breading chicken that is less messy and time consuming than the traditional method. The quinoa adds great crunch and is way better for you—Fiber! Iron!—than refined flour and white bread crumbs.

CRUSTED CHICKEN PARMESAN WITH ROASTED GREEN BEANS

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• ½ cup uncooked quinoa
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• A few turns of freshly ground black pepper
• 4 (4-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
• 1½ cups Make-It-in-Minutes Marinara Sauce , or 1 cup of your favorite store-bought sauce with ⅓ cup Carrot–Sweet Potato Base Blend
• ⅓ cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

For the green beans:

• 4 cups string beans, ends trimmed
• ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400º F.
2. Pulse the dry quinoa in a food processor for about 30 seconds, until it resembles flour. Rinse it in a fine-mesh strainer to remove the bitter coating; drain well.
3. Place the damp quinoa into a gallon-size resealable plastic bag. Add the oregano and pepper to the bag and shake to mix.
4. Add the chicken pieces and shake again to coat evenly.
5. Spread ⅓ cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Lay the breaded cutlets on top of the sauce, side by side. Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken and top each cutlet evenly with the mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake uncovered until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is lightly browned and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, make the beans: Put the beans, oil, and red pepper flakes on a baking sheet and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Roast them alongside the chicken during the last 10 minutes of cooking, until they're lightly browned and crisp.

Nutrition Facts: Per serving: 3 ounces chicken plus sauce and 1 cup beans | Yields: 4 servings

Calories: 440 Fat: 13g Sodium: 338mg Carbohydrates: 36g Fiber: 7g Sugar: 4g Protein: 45g

Missy Chase Lapine is best known as the creator of the wildly successful Sneaky Chef series of books, including her first, a New York Times bestseller, The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals. Missy has published 5 follow-up books since that have not only inspired families around the country, but have established a whole new healthy eating and lifestyle brand category. Missy's next book, Sneaky Blends, due out in September of 2016, is focused on helping moms eat a healthy, nutrient-dense diet. Sneaky Blends is a cookbook offering up 100 delicious puree-based recipes for adults who want to enjoy their meals but drop the pounds.

Missy also has developed The Sneaky Chef Foods brand which is committed to developing products that improve children's health by helping moms easily feed their kids the fruit and veggies they need in the foods they already love as well as allergy friendly alternatives to peanut butter. The No-Nut Butter is made with roasted golden pea butter!