Whole30 Chicken & Eggplant "Parm"

I purchase a lot of Whole30 compliant ingredients from Thrive Market & have been shopping from them for years! They offer food products for 70+ food preferences/values or diets. Not only, do they sell food products, but also organic, eco-friendly household & skincare products. You can purchase these items for a fraction of the cost of what you would pay at Whole Foods, Sprouts, or other big brand grocery stores.

For this recipe, I purchased the almond flour, cassava flour, Rao's pasta sauce, & ghee spray from Thrive Market.

Makes 4 servings

You'll need:

• 24 oz jar of Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce
• 1-1/2 to 2 lb chicken breasts, butterflied into 4 thin cutlets
• 1 large eggplant, cut into rounds
• 1-1/2 cups cassava flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 lb baby potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
• 2 crowns of broccoli, chopped into florets
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tbsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 2-1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• Ghee spray

Preheat your oven to 425. Set out 2 baking sheets, line each with parchment paper, & spray with ghee oil spray.

"bread" the eggplant (& chicken)

Create a workspace with 2 plates & a bowl. Add the cassava flour plus 1/2 tsp of salt to one plate. In a large bowl, add the almond flour, 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tsp salt, & 1/2 tsp ground pepper & mix until well combined. Grab another plate & add 1/2 cup of the almond flour mixture. You'll add the rest in batches while you coat your eggplant & chicken so the whole mixture doesn't get clumpy. In a bowl, (I used a meal prep container here) whisk up your eggs. Start breading your eggplant first (raw chicken has bacteria & you don't wanna spread that around even though you'll be cooking everything). Dip the eggplant in the cassava flour, then egg mixture, & lastly covering it with the almond flour. Repeat this process until you have all your eggplant "breaded," then repeat the process for the chicken.

Roasting thyme

In 1 sheet pan, add the breaded eggplant, & in another, add the breaded chicken. Roast them in the oven for 15 minutes, take it out & flip everything over & rotate pans, then cook for another 15 minutes. Remove the eggplant from the oven & let the chicken cook for another 10 minutes.

Place the eggplant on a plate. Add the potatoes to the sheet pan, toss with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tbsp garlic powder, 1/2 tbsp oregano, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp salt, & 1/4 tsp ground pepper. Roast the potatoes in the oven for 10 minutes on the top rack.

Remove the chicken from the oven & place on a plate to cool. Add the broccoli to the same sheet pan & toss with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tbsp garlic powder, 1/2 tbsp oregano, 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp salt, & 1/4 tsp ground pepper. roast with the potatoes for 20 minutes.

Get saucy

Heat the Rao's tomato basil sauce in a saucepan on medium heat until it comes to a slow simmer. Then set aside.

Ready, set... eat!

Now it's time to plate! Place 2 of the breaded eggplant slices on a plate, add 2 tbsp or Rao's tomato basil sauce, add chicken filet, 2 more tbsp of sauce, 2 more slices of eggplant, & top with 2-3 tbsp of sauce. Add some roasted potatoes & broccoli to the plate & viola!