Tastes Like Chicken

The past couple of weeks have been two very big ones in my life...  My amazing birthday weekend symbolically marked the end of my time at Full Picture and the start of my job at Hearst.  Starting this new job has been amazing yet harder than I'd imagined and I am planning on throwing myself into it one thousand percent.  I've gotten really aggressive about working out and have made it a point to either go to the gym, hit the running path along the West Side highway or go to a spinning class no less than five times a week.  And I'm also forcing myself to create time for all of the things that I notoriously put on the back burner like dentist appointments, getting a new mattress and finally getting a New York driver's license.  As amazing and "together" as I've been feeling lately, it has hardly left time for me to cook or blog (apologies on the sporadic posts - I promise that I am getting back on my regular posting schedule).

Now that I feel like life is following a little bit more of a schedule, I have more time to cook which has oddly become something that I LOVE doing lately.  On that note, I can't wait to go home tonight and make myself Chicken Milanese.  The recipe is adapted by Carol at Milk &Mode and is from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, My Father's Daughter.  It is so simple, so delicious and is the ultimate busy, workday meal. 

Chicken Milanese with Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Milanese:

4 skinless, free-range, organic boneless chicken breasts, washed and thoroughly dried
1 cup milk
2 cups Japanese panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

For the Tomatoes and Arugula:
2 cups cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Coarse salt
2 cups wild arugula
1 tablespoon high-quality balsamic vinegar

Directions:
For the Chicken Milanese:
Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of baking parchment paper. Using a mallet, pound the chicken breasts until they're very, very thin--you should be able to almost see through them--about 1/16-inch thick. Put the milk in a shallow bowl and the bread crumbs on a large plate. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk and then dredge it in the bread crumbs, tapping off the excess. You should have a thin, even coating.

Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large nonstick skillet big enough to hold 2 pieces of chicken in a single layer. Cook for about 4 minutes on the first side, or until evenly browned and crisp. Flip and cook for an additional 2 or 3 minutes, or until the other side is browned and crisp and the chicken is firm to the touch. Wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil and the remaining 2 pieces of chicken.

For the Tomatoes and Arugula:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the tomatoes in a small baking pan and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they're split and blistered and super sweet.

While the chicken is cooking, toss the arugula with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, the vinegar, and a pinch of salt. Fold the tomatoes into the arugula.

Place one piece of chicken on each of four dinner plates and mound a handful of arugula over each piece, making sure everyone gets plenty of tomatoes.

Image courtesy of Milk & Mode.