Garlic Cheddar Chicken

With my mom out of town for a week, my dad and sister have been eating out every night. So last night we had them over for dinner. The weather was not cooperating to grill out so I logged on to AllRecipes.com and stumbled across this dish, which is amongst the most highly rated recipes on the cooking board I frequent. It was easy to make and very flavorful, therefore a hit in my house. I even managed not to dry out the chicken breasts too badly, which I tend to do.

In an attempt to make sure the bottom of the chicken didn't get too soggy, I put cooling racks on a cookie sheet and baked the chicken on top of that. I don't know that it worked any better than putting the chicken directly on the cookie sheet, but it can't hurt.

Garlic Cheddar Chicken

Source: AllRecipes.com

1/2 cup butter (I used olive oil)
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs (I used Italian)
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (I used a lite cheese blend)
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, and cook the garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. In a shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, Cheddar cheese, parsley, oregano, pepper, and salt. Dip each chicken breast in the garlic butter to coat, then press into the bread crumb mixture. Arrange the coated chicken breasts in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter and top with any remaining bread crumb mixture.

Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. I then added a bit more cheese to the top and broiled the chicken for a few minutes.