Tahoe-Truckee recipe: Three-way crunchy chicken Parmesan

This time of the year, when the sun is calling us outdoors to the rivers, docks and lake fronts, I like to make sure I have a bunch of food that travels well.

Obviously I can’t just cook up these special picnic provisions to my heart’s content and leave the kids to a dinner of Pop Tarts, so a compromise is in order. (Plus the Pop Tarts are for my morning hikes).

I’m still doing the dinner deal, but I’m making sure the leftovers are backpack- and/or cooler-compatible. In other words, things like spaghetti are out, as I would look ridiculous sitting on my lounge chair with a bowl of pasta balancing on my thighs, and you can only imagine the resulting weird tan line. My thighs need all the color they can get.

This chicken Parmesan recipe is perfect summer fare served first at home in the evening with a side of pasta and a large salad, and then beach-side, sliced up and topping a Caesar, or rolled into a wrap. There. That is chicken Parmesan served three ways.

If you want a fourth, top this chicken with some marinara sauce and sprinkle with more Parmesan before you bake it. But that, dear readers, is an entree that doesn’t not look good on your bathing suit the next day.

Chicken Parmesan Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 cup breadcrumbs

2/3 cup grated fresh Parmesan (in other words, not the green shaker bottle)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 7 ounces each

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and salt. Set aside. Mix together basil, pepper, bread crumbs and Parmesan. Set aside. Dip one chicken breast in butter mixture, then in bread crumb mixture (coat on all sides) and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts. Bake for 25 minutes — or maybe a few more minutes — until chicken is no longer pink inside.

Simone Grandmain is an internationally published travel and food writer who currently calls Truckee-Tahoe home. She welcomes your favorite family recipes and the story behind them at simonegrandmain@gmail.com.