Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4
- 1 ½ lbs chicken cutlets
- salt
- pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 c panko bread crumbs
- ¼ c chopped dill
- olive oil
- ranch dressing
- 4 cucumber spears
Cut the chicken cutlets into wide strips; season with salt and pepper. Dip in beaten egg, then a mixture of the panko bread crumbs and chopped dill. In batches, cook the strips in ½” of olive oil over medium heat until golden. Serve with ranch dressing and cucumber spears.
One of Real Simple’s “10 Ideas for: Chicken Cutlets,” this makes for a great little meal. Say, for lunch or even a light dinner. Rice and/or a salad could be added as sides to make it a bigger meal, too.
The panko crumbs did throw me off a little. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for on my shopping trip but thought the bread aisle would be a good place to start. Bread crumbs in the bread aisle, right? Nope. I finally located them in the canned and boxed foods aisle. Hmm, okay. Next to stuffing, I guess kinda makes sense. Then when I saw the container I was pleasantly surprised. One, that my local grocer actually had them. Yet again, don’t underestimate what your local grocer has to offer. And two, I did know what they were, I just didn’t know them as panko bread crumbs. I knew them as the breading for crunchy sushi – shrimp tempura, chicken tempura and the like. If you’ve never tried panko bread crumbs they aren’t like other heavy breading, instead they just add a nice light crunch.
Have you ever been a little unsure of an ingredient only to learn it was easy to work with and/or you’d encountered before but just didn’t know it?