What?! Mexican chicken parmesan? It’s not a long story. I looked in my pantry shortly before dinner and there were no canned tomatoes. Zero. What I did have was a container of salsa in the refrigerator and some tomato paste. Thus, Mexican chicken parmesan was created.

The sauce turned out to be somewhat spicy since the salsa was medium spiciness. I tamed it down with the tomato paste, a Roma tomato that our daughter had gleaned from her communal gardening spot, and a little bit of ketchup. I also added garlic and oregano to try to force the sauce into a more Italian vibe. We used Costco cooked rotisserie chicken breast pieces and a slice of Swiss cheese to mimic the “parmesan” part. And John actually grated some parmesan over his pieces.

I salted the zucchini slices and let them sit for an hour to draw some of the water out. They were sauteed with some cut up leek and garlic.

It all turned out pretty yummy. But I think that next time I will check the pantry before I put Chicken Parmesan on the menu.