Zucchini Parmesan

I tried eggplant parmesan for the first time last week. It was delicious! I had a bunch of extra zucchini laying around so I decided to try my hand at a zucchini based recreation. I was very pleased with the way that it turned out.  Add this dish to my zucchini-harvest repertoire.  

Zucchini Parmesan
Source: Adapted from Handle the Heat

Ingredients:
3 large zucchini, sliced into 1/3-inch coins
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated and divided in half
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs (I used panko bread crumbs with italian seasoning)
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
1 bottle marinara sauce
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 package spaghetti linguine noodles, cooked & drained

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450. Coat a large baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. Blot zucchini coins with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Place zucchini in a medium bowl and drizzle with olive oil, turning to coat each piece. In a separate bowl, combine half the parmesan, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper. Dip each zucchini coin into the parmesan mixture, turning to coat and pressing the breading slightly to ensure it sticks. Place breaded zucchini coins in one even layer on prepared baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes or until browned and crisp. 

Reduce the oven temperature to 400. Place noodles in bottom of a 9x13 baking dish and toss with half the marinara sauce. Place a layer of remaining marinara sauce over the top of the noodles. Layer one third of the crisp zucchini coins over marinara, overlapping if necessary. Sprinkle zucchini layer with mozzarella, cheddar and the remaining parmesan. Repeat the layers until the zucchini is gone, depending on the size of your baking dish, ending with a sprinkling of cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

Crunchy Ranch Chicken

You know that we love Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing at our house - and this is a yummy meal that is super easy to throw together. Pair it with some twice-baked potatoes or corn on the cob and it's just perfect.

Crunchy Ranch Chicken

Source: Adapted from Chef in Training

Ingredients:
5-6 chicken tenders
1 cup ranch dressing (Hidden Valley Ranch, of course)
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (I used panko crumbs)

1 tsp Dry Ranch Dressing Mix

Instructions:
In a bread pan pour ranch dressing. In a separate bread pan, combine bread crumbs and HVR dressing mix. Coat chicken tenders in ranch, then dip into bread crumbs. Evenly cover on all sides.

Place in a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until chicken is done and tender.

*Chef in Training recommended using a bread pan instead of a bowl and I loved it! I'll never use a bowl again. It was just so much easier to coat the chicken.