Baked Quinoa Crusted Chicken Parmesan

Quinoa is one of my favorite new obsessions.  It doesn't help the cause that Kroger now has two or three different quinoa options in their organic section, all of them with a slightly different but amazing taste.  We have cooked it is so many different ways, flavoring it with different ingredients, and enjoyed all of them.  I honestly don't think we have had one time where we didn't like how the meal ended up.  So, when I saw this, I obviously wanted to try it but was not sure how it would end up.  I couldn't imagine how cooked quinoa could possible coat my chicken, but it actually does a wonderful job!  The quinoa adds a slightly different taste to the chicken parm that is absolutely amazing.  I'm pretty sure we will never have regular chicken parm at our house again!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients

• 4 (4-6 ounce) boneless, and skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (~1/2 cup dry cooked with 1 cup liquid),  I used a mixture or red and regular quinoa
• 1 teaspoon italian seasoning blend
• 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/4 cup parmigiano regginao (parmesan), grated
• 2 small containers of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons basil, torn

Directions

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, dredge in flour, dip in egg and coat in the mixture of the quinoa and italian seasoning.
2. Place the chicken on a rack on a baking pan and bake in a preheated 400F oven until cooked and lightly golden brown, about 25-30 minutes.
3. Transfer the chicken to a baking dish, top with the tomato paste spread thinly, and  cheese and broil until it has melted, about 2-4 minutes.
4. Plate the chicken and garnish with fresh basil (ours is growing so well on our rooftop garden right now!)
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   Image and recipe adapted from here