Homemade Chicken Parmigiana

When you cook at home, you know what ingredients are in your meals. You can easily make adjustments to suit your personal dietary needs.

Using no-salt-added tomatoes for this dish offsets some of the salt (sodium) in the cheese.

The sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 28-ounce can crushed no-salt-added tomatoes

• 1 28-ounce can diced low-salt tomatoes

• 2 tbsp dried parsley

• 1 tbsp dried basil

• 1 bay leaf

Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until transparent. Add garlic and stir. Add tomatoes and herbs. Bring sauce to bubbling and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to thicken, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

If you’re making the sauce in advance, cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, then refrigerate. You’ll need 2 cups for your chicken; the rest can be frozen.

Makes 5 cups

Each cup contains about 124 calories, 3 g fat (less than 0.5 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 272 mg sodium, 22 g carbohydrate, 5 g dietary fiber, 14 g sugar, and 4.5 g protein.

The chicken

• 1 egg white

• 1 tsp water

• 3/4 cup panko (light Japanese-style breadcrumbs)

• 2 tbsp olive oil, divided

• 1 lb chicken breast cutlets—4 pieces*

*If you buy the chicken as 2 skinless breasts, cut each breast in half lengthwise. Put chicken between 2 sheets of wax paper and pound to make it evenly thick, about one-half to three-quarters of an inch.

Put egg white and water in a shallow bowl. Beat lightly. Dip cutlets in egg wash.

Spread some panko on wax paper. Cover the cutlets with panko, pressing the crumbs onto the chicken.

Put 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large frying pan and heat to medium high. Add chicken and cook about 3 minutes, until golden. Add the second tablespoon of olive oil when turning the chicken. Cook 2 minutes more.

The cheese

1 cup shredded low-moisture, skim-milk mozzarella

The complete dish

To assemble the chicken Parmigiana, spread 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a shallow baking dish that will hold the chicken in 1 layer. Spread another cup of sauce over the chicken. Bake for about 15 minutes at 350° F.

Remove dish from oven and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella. Return dish to oven for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. The cheese doesn’t need to cook, just melt.

Serve with cooked whole-wheat thin spaghetti and a salad.

Makes 4 servings

Each serving of chicken, cheese, and sauce contains about 361 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat), 81 mg cholesterol, 485 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 8 g sugar, and 32 g protein.