By Marcus came home from Tuskegee on Friday, and I am not going to tell you I was standing on the porch waiting because that would make me sound like a woman who has been counting the days, which I have, but a woman does not need to announce her counting. I was on the porch. He was in Calvin's truck. He got out looking taller, which is not possible in two weeks but seemed true, and he walked up the steps and hugged me and said Mama, I missed your cooking, and I held him and did not say I missed your face because that would have been too much and too true and I would have dissolved into tears on the porch and the neighbors would have talked.
He ate dinner like a boy returning from exile — fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens, cornbread, and sweet potato pie, in that order and in those quantities: a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, and a lot. He talked between bites about the program, about the friends he made, about the engineering projects he worked on, about the professor who told him he had a gift for structural thinking. I listened and served and listened and served and the serving was the listening and the listening was the serving and both were the same thing, which is love in motion.
He said something at dinner that I have been turning over all week. He said Mama, Tuskegee felt like home in a way I did not expect. And I said what do you mean, and he said the campus, the people, the way everybody knows your name and checks on you and the older students look out for the younger ones — it felt like church. It felt like New Hope. And I thought: of course it did. Because Tuskegee was built the same way a church is built — by people who were told they could not, who built it anyway, who fed each other through the building, who turned nothing into something through faith and work and the refusal to accept no as an answer. That is our history. That is our recipe. And my boy recognized the ingredients because he has been eating them his whole life.
Destiny and Marcus spent Saturday on the couch watching movies and arguing about everything the way siblings do, and the noise of their arguing filled the house the way music fills a room — not always harmonious but always alive. The house sounds right again. All the notes are back. The song is complete.
Made a celebration cake Saturday night — chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting, because chocolate is the flavor of homecoming and homecoming deserves three layers. Marcus ate two slices. The second one standing at the counter, the way I eat my best slices. He is learning the kitchen. He is learning me. Some recipes are passed down not through instruction but through proximity, and my son has been proximate to me his whole life.
The celebration cake Saturday night was for Marcus, but this meal — the one I had been planning in my head all week — was for all of us, the kind of dinner that says the house is full again and everyone at this table earned their seat. When the noise of two siblings arguing fills your home like music, you want to put something on the table that matches the moment: something golden and crisp on the outside, solid all the way through. That’s what brought me to this Crispy Parmesan Baked Chicken — a recipe that looks like effort and tastes like a homecoming, because that’s exactly what it was.
Crispy Parmesan Baked Chicken with Veggies (Milanese)
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each), pounded to even thickness
- 1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
- 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced into half-moons
- Fresh parsley or basil, chopped, for garnish
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease it with olive oil or cooking spray.
- Make the coating. In a shallow bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine. Place the beaten eggs in a separate shallow bowl.
- Coat the chicken. Dip each chicken breast into the beaten egg, letting the excess drip off, then press firmly into the breadcrumb mixture on both sides until thoroughly coated. Lay each piece on one half of the prepared baking sheet.
- Add the vegetables. On the other half of the baking sheet, spread the broccoli, cherry tomatoes, and zucchini in a single layer. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss lightly to coat.
- Bake. Transfer the sheet pan to the oven and bake for 28—35 minutes, until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F) and the vegetables are tender and lightly caramelized at the edges.
- Rest and serve. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley or basil and serve with lemon wedges alongside the roasted vegetables.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 430 | Protein: 48g | Fat: 16g | Carbs: 22g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 680mg