Baked Lemon Parmesan Crusted Chicken

You all know by now that I like to improvise my recipes more often than not... I did just that last night and didn't bother to take any pictures, since I didn't think it was going to be anything special to post about. Paul, on the other hand, took one bite and told me I could make this any time I wanted!!! So, I will post what I did to make this.

*I do have another post for Parmesan Breaded Chicken, I must say, I liked this version better*

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breasts, pounded somewhat thin (I bought 2 giant pieces of chicken at a local store and decided to cut one in half lenthwise and put the other one in the freezer. I had more than enough!)
• Freshly grated Parmesan
• Breadcrumbs (I used plain, you could use seasoned)
• 1 Lemon, juiced and zested
• Few tbs. olive oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Paprika
• Garlic Garlic seasoning from Tastefully Simple (you could use minced fresh)

What I did:
First, I patted the chicken dry and seasoned it with salt, pepper, paprika and the Garlic seasoning from TS...you can use any spices you wish. I then took the zest from one lemon and rubbed it all over the chicken pieces and put it into a shallow pan, drizzling olive oil and the juice from one lemon over it. I let it marinate in this for about an hour or so in the fridge.

Then, I combined about a cup of bread crumbs and about a cup and a half or so of Parmesan onto a paper plate...I wanted more cheese than breadcrumbs, but any ratio would work. Eyeball it, no real measuring is required for this recipe...or any of my others, for that matter!!

Take the chicken and kinda let the excess juice/oil drip off...then lay in breadcrumb plate and coat completely. I put the pieces in a small baking pan and cooked in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 min.

The chicken came out moist, tender and really had a great lemon flavor throughout. My main complaint with most chicken dishes is the lack of flavor that goes into the chicken...this dish did not have that problem at all and had a really light fresh flavor. I did notice with this, the breadcrumbs didn't really crisp up...but I think I could have helped that, had I flipped the chicken over about half way through cooking.