Breaded Chicken, Eggplant and Squash Strips Recipe

“Schnitzel” or breaded chicken breast is a popular food, brought from Eastern Europe to America by Ashkenazic Jews. I love to combine this child-friendly favorite with similarly breaded eggplant and zucchini in a platter perfect for entertaining. I cut them all into strips so that they present nicely and are easy to lay out. I add spices to the bread crumbs and I sometimes add things like soy sauce or mustard to the egg mixture for added flavor. If you forget to add the spices to the crumbs, as I often do is my Friday afternoon rush you can sprinkle them over the pieces on the baking sheet before popping it into the oven. I like to oven “fry” them so they are healthier, although most recipes will call for frying them in a fry pan.

This is also a great way to use up old bread. You can turn it into bread crumbs by popping it into the food processor. If you want Panko style crumbs, follow this recipe. 

The basic recipe is as follows:

Ingredients
1 lb chicken skinless boneless chicken breast
1 large zucchini
1 medium eggplant
2 eggs
2 cups breadcrumbs (ideally panko style for a crispier result)
Canola oil cooking spray

Optional add-ins:
For the egg mixture – 1 T dijon mustard OR soy sauce
For the bread crumbs- salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano or Italian seasoning mix, paprika for the chicken

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Rinse chicken and scrub vegetables. Cut chicken into strips. Cut zucchini into thirds width wise and then cut that into sticks. Cut eggplant into sticks as well.

Beat eggs in one bowl and pour bread crumbs into another. Line two baking sheets with parchment and spray with a light layer of canola oil. Dip chicken strips, eggplant sticks, and zucchini strips one by one first into the egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs. Spread out on baking sheets. Put the vegetables on one, and the chicken on another.

 Spray with another light layer of oil. Bake until vegetables are soft (approximately 45 minutes) and chicken is cooked through (approximately 30 minutes). Both will be starting to look crispy at that point.

Make sure to check how ready your strips are before taking them out as baking time will vary greatly depending on how thick you made them.

The last time I made these, I spread them out on a glass turntable so that every one can easily reach their favorite foods.