Baked Avocado Chicken Parmigiana & the Inaugural Cherry Blossom 9.5 Miler

Posted on Apr 14th, 2015

by Johanna

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So you’re thinking, “wait a minute… I’ve been running the Cherry Blossom for years!” (or alternatively, you might be thinking “I don’t care about running… hurry up and tell me about that ridiculously delicious looking chicken!” That’s fair, but you’re going to have to be patient.) Yes, perhaps you have, but you’ve been running the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler. This year the race had to be shortened by approximately a half mile (the official distance will be measured this week) due to an emergency on the course, and as the race emcee pointed out to runners “you all just set a P.R. for the 9.5 mile distance!” I heard quite a few runners complaining, but I actually thought the race organizers couldn’t have handled the situation any better. And while I’m sure all of us runners were a little bummed not to get an official 10 mile time, it’s whoever was injured on the course we should feel sorry for.

I sound like such a do-gooder. I should go ahead and admit right now, had this been a marathon and I’d been training for months, I’m sure I’d feel differently. Something to the tune of “GET THE BODY OFF THE RACE COURSE!”

Anyways, this was my fourth running of the Cherry Blossom and I was on par to blow my previous course record (1:21:15 in 2012) out of the water (and beat last year’s time by far more than that, it was a terrible race for me). I finished with a net time of 1:14:39, my slowest mile faster than my 2012 average overall pace of 8:07. With a half mile left to go, I expect I would have finished with a time similar to the Frederick 10 miler two weeks ago (1:19:38.7), but not beat my overall 10-mile PR of 1:18:05. This is probably a good thing, as I might have been kind of pissed to PR on a race that I wasn’t even running under my own name (thank you Joaquin!)

This was the second of five 10-milers I’ll be doing in a five week period this Spring. I will say that I’m starting to feel more confident about my running. I wasn’t really feeling it this race, and still finished fairly strong. I’ve been doing almost no running between races, and far too much cross training. I had to laugh on Wednesday when my spin instructor said that our morning ride should be the last hard workout for folks running the Cherry Blossom. I did Kettlebell on Thursday and her spin class again on Friday. Honestly, unless I’m running something I’m really invested in (so, pretty much unless I’m running a marathon), I’m not going to take more than a day off beforehand. Let’s be honest, if you start taking two days off before and a day off after every race (and justifying carb-load dinners and post-race brunches – for a female my size a 10-mile race burns less than 1,000 calories, don’t overdo it!) you’ll quickly find yourself in worse shape after race season. Anyways, this coming weekend is the real challenge, with the Georgetown 10-miler 2-day challenge (10 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday). I definitely don’t expect to be setting any PRs, the goal is to have fun and avoid injuries.

Okay, now so for those of you who really just want to know about this avocado chicken parmigiana… your time has come at last. This was one of those recipes that I was ogling as I made it and ~~thinking~~ jabbering profusely about how excited I was to eat it. I really can’t believe I haven’t made this before. It was super simple, and although you might not believe it looking at the ooey gooey cheese goozing over the edges, really healthy! Courtney’s only critique was that he wished it was over a bed of pasta, but I think it was just lovely with a simple green salad!

Baked Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

4 (6 oz) chicken breast fillets
2 egg whites
1/2 cups dried breadcrumbs (I used Gillian’s Gluten-Free)
1/4 cup grated mozzarella
2 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 cup marinara sauce
1 large ripe avocado, sliced
4 oz light mozzarella cheese (shredded)

Instructions:

Pound chicken breast flat using a meat mallet… or your fists! A rolling pin will also work if you don’t mind getting nasty raw chicken on your wooden rolling pin. For some reason I have a complex about this.
Mix breadcrumbs, parmesan and Italian seasoning together in a medium bowl. Put egg whites in a separate small bowl.
One at a time, dip chicken breasts in egg white then carefully coat in breadcrumb mixture.
Place on prepared baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake at 395° F for 5 minutes, flip and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and spread each chicken breast with 3 tablespoons marinara sauce. Arrange avocado slices over sauce and sprinkle 1 oz mozzarella on each.
Return to oven and bake for another 5 – 7 minutes or until golden and chicken is cooked through. if desired, you can finish by broiling for one minute to get your cheese crispy.
Serve! I served with a lovely green salad, but Courtney would have liked it over pasta.