Chicken Milanese with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes (gluten-free)

Happy Tuesday my friends! It was a busy weekend and beginning to the week. Mr. No FOMO Food turned 30 and I trekked back to my hometown to attend my 10-year high school reunion. It was a weekend loaded with milestones and we celebrated accordingly! It is with clarity and much enthusiasm that my husband requested an Italian dinner for his birthday meal. We love every genre of Italian so in honor of him- I present to you this beautiful Chicken Milanese with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes. 

The ingredients in this meal are simple but when cooked with precision and care, the simplicity bolsters incredible flavor.  The tomatoes become soft, blistered, caramelized and utterly divine. I've gotten into a wonderful habit of roasting off any extra tomatoes laying around the kitchen. Using almond meal in place of traditional bread crumbs is a superb replacement. It crisps up just the way you want for this quintessential Italian dinner.  If you're looking for a full meal, boil up some brown rice spaghetti noodles and top with olive oil, sea salt and lemon. It's the perfect compliment to this indulgent chicken. Here's to you, Mr. NFF. 

Chicken Milanese with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes (gluten-free)

You need:

• 2 organic chicken breasts (about 1LB)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup almond meal or almond flour 
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbl extra virgin olive oil
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Handful basil leaves, torn into small pieces 
• Handful arugula 
• Chile flakes, optional

Get cooking:

For the cherry tomatoes:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet.
3. Place cherry tomatoes on the sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, toss to coat. Season with sea salt, toss. 
4. Roast for 45 minutes, stir at the 25 minute mark to get an even roast on the tomatoes. 

For the chicken milanese:

1. Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap.
2. Using a kitchen mallet, pound the chicken until very thin and the chicken is the same thickness throughout. My chicken breast ended up at about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Add the almond milk to a shallow dish.
4. Add the almond meal to a separate shallow dish and season with salt and pepper. 
5. Place each chicken breast into the milk, then dredge in almond meal. 
6. Place on a clean plate. 
7. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in large skillet. Test heat by dropping in a bit of the almond meal, if it sizzles and begins to brown- it's ready!
8. Add chicken breast to oil. You want your chicken to get a beautiful golden brown crust, turn down heat as needed as to not burn. 
9. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, flip and continue cooking an additional 2-3 minutes. The internal temp of chicken breast should read 160 degrees. 
10. Plate the chicken breasts, top with roasted cherry tomatoes, torn basil leaves, arugula and chile flakes if desired. If you can tolerate cheese- this would be the perfect place to add some parmesan!