Oven "Fried" . . .

In keeping with my goal to drop 35 pounds (actually it's 30 now!) I have a tip for breaded, fried foods. You know, like onion rings or fried zucchini, or fried fish; the stuff that tastes sooooo good, and is soooooo fatty! I've tried breading and baking stuff before, only to get a soggy mess. But this really works and tastes great too. Although you may want to wait for cooler weather before you try it—you do need to use a very high temperature oven.

BREADED, "FRIED" . . . ANYTHING!

4 slices white bread, torn into 1-inch pieces*
1 Tbsp. butter, melted*
salt and pepper
1/4 cup flour*
2 large eggs*
1 Tbsp. light mayonnaise*
seasonings of choice, to taste
chicken or fish or zucchini or mushrooms or onion rings or . . .

*You may need more of these things, depending on how much "anything" you're cooking—this amount works for about four 4 to 5-ounce pieces of chicken.

Prepare ahead of time: Pulse bread, butter, salt and pepper in food processor to make medium crumbs. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. Crumbs should be brown and dry. Set aside until ready to use.

Prepare (slice, dice—whatever, and pat dry) your veggies, chicken or fish. [You can also do "fried" mozarella this way, but you have to freeze the cheese sticks first and then work fast when you're breading them. Also I don't know that this qualifies as a low-cal food. But it is healthier than plain old deep-fried mozarella!]

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Put the flour into a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, mix together the eggs, mayonnaise and your choice of seasonings. [I find that "Season-All" is great for this stuff.] Put the bread crumbs into another shallow bowl.
Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Dredge your fish, chicken or veggies in the flour. Dip the floury food into the egg mixture. Coat the eggy mess in bread crumbs, pressing crumbs onto the food, and then place on the prepared cookie sheet.

Turn oven heat down to 425 degrees. Place cookie sheet in oven. Bake fish about 20 to 25 minutes, turning once halfway through. Bake large chicken pieces about 40 minutes, turning a couple times during cooking. [Smaller, boneless chicken pieces will work better and don't have to cook as long.] Cook veggies about 10 to 15 minutes, turning over once.

Serve hot. Yummy!!