WANNA KNOW SOMETHING CRAY???

You know when you’re at an Italian restaurant and you’re deciding between the eggplant parm and chicken parm?? Sure, maybe you want to indulge a little but still keep your dish somewhat healthy. Which do you pick – the eggplant parm or chicken parm?

Eggplants are a nonstarchy veggie… So that must be the healthier option!!

FALSE – it turns out that the lighter option is likely the chicken parm. This is because eggplant tends to soak up more oil than the chicken. Carbs and protein contain 4 kcals/ gram of CHO or protein. Oil is a fat and contains 9 kcals/ gram of fat, making it the more calorie dense macronutrient.

Because fat is more calorie dense than carbs or protein, it spikes up the total kcal.

Because fat is the reason for this dish being SO high in calories, I decided to add an AHTK twist to the classic chicken parm recipe – air fry it!!

Air frying slashes away the calories while still adding a that drool worthy crisp to the outside of the chicken!!

… And I didn’t just stop at air frying…

I also coated the chicken with wheat bran to up the fiber content and decrease the net carbs. Nearly 70% of the carbs in this wheat bran are fiber compared to bread crumbs, which only have 6% of carbs that are fiber.

Sounds like a winner, winner, HEALTHY PARM CHICK FOR DINNER??

Recipe

• 2, 4 ounces uncooked chicken breast
• ½ cup wheat bran
• 1 T parm cheese
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 egg
• Olive oil spray
• 1/4 cup Raos sauce
• 1/4 cup low fat shredded mozzarella

Directions

Whisk egg in a medium size bowl. Set aside.

Mix wheat bran, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and onion powder in a medium bowl. Dip the chicken breast in the egg then the dry mixture and place into your olive oil coated Air Fryer. Spray the dipped chicken with additional olive oil spray. Cook for 15 minutes at 300°F (may change depending on Air Fryer brand and chicken size).

When the chicken is cooked, remove the chicken from the air fryer and add 2 T of Raos sauce on top of each chicken and top the sauce with 2 T of shredded mozzarella. Cook the chicken for an additional 5 minutes at 350°F, or until the cheese is brown.

*Recipe makes 2 servings

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

I like to pair my chick parm with Palmini Pasta ( pasta made from hearts of palm; 2 net carbs and 2 grams of protein per serving ) or with Better Than Noodles ( made from konnyaku flour and organic oat fiber; 0 net carbs per serving, 6 grams of fiber )

xx hails