Chicken Bruschetta

(Photo updated June 2014)

Happy Thursday ladies! Today I’m linking up with Leigh for her meal planning made easy series.

Last week, I had a very happy fiance! When he came home from work, I was making one of my new favorite recipes, Chicken Bruschetta. I had never made it for Corey before because it was something I discovered in one of my cookbooks while we were living apart and have adapted to make my own.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 fresh tomatoes, diced
2 Tbsp basil (fresh is best but dried will still work if that is all you have available)
garlic, minced
EVOO
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh mozzarella cheese (this is optional and wasn’t in the original recipe but there’s a delicious restaurant in Jersey City that makes chicken bruschetta sandwhiches with fresh mozzarella)

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, EVOO, and balsamic vinegar. If you can do this earlier in the day or the night before it will make it even better.

2. Now you have the bruschetta! Let it sit in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the dish.

3. Place flour and eggs in separate shallow bowls.

4. Combine the Parmesan cheese, butter, and bread crumbs in a third bowl and set to side.

5. Dip each chicken breast in flour then in eggs and place in greased baking dish.

 6. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over chicken.

7. Loosely cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.
8. Uncover chicken and return to oven for ten minutes, or until the coating has begun to brown.
9. Top chicken with pieces of the fresh mozzarella cheese then return to oven for 5-7 minutes, or until it has begun to melt.

 10. Top chicken with bruschetta and return to oven for five minutes so that the bruschetta will be warmed.

I served ours with a salad last night (again sans bread since we are dieting) but this meal is especially delicious with some garlic roasted asparagus and fresh Italian bread. Yum!