My August dinners are all about eating as many raw vegetables as I can. Zucchini and tomatoes and lettuces are so abundant and fresh right now, and it's so hot out there—why would anybody want to cook them?
Right now my salad of choice is made of raw zucchini ribbons. But I usually want a little something crispy or carby or meaty to go with my salads, so I'm piling those ribbons over crispy breaded chicken cutlets that aren't actually "breaded" at all. Two crucial elements make all the difference in this dinner:
1. Cornmeal is the Answer to Crispy Gluten-Free Cutlets
I kind of forgot about thebreaded chicken cutletas a dinner option when I had to stop eating gluten ten years ago. And that was fine, because I also kind of seen cutlets as kid food. But the truth is that crispy, pan-fried chicken cutlets are irresistible no matter how old you are. They're also quick and easy to make, and don't actually have to be made with bread or gluten. So why was I avoiding them again?
Now I make chicken cutlets with seasoned cornmeal, and they're just as crispy and comforting and satisfying as the ones my mom used to make with seasoned Italian breadcrumbs. I dip the cutlets in a mustardy egg wash, then dredge them through cornmeal seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a little bit of smoked paprika. I tried skipping the egg wash step entirely for speed but the cornmeal didn't stick to the chicken as well. I also tried adding in the traditional first step of dredging in flour before the egg wash (using cornstarch instead of flour), but this made the cornmeal crust stickless.
2. Zucchini Somehow Tastes Better In Ribbon Form
To make my crispy chicken cutlets a little less childlike for dinner, and because it's the height of zucchini season, I top them with a generous tangle of zucchini ribbon salad. I like to eat it right on top of the crispy cutlet, but you can also eat it on the side, or completely separately if it suits you. But the ribboning is not optional. Zucchini tastes so good raw—it's sweet and fresh and has a nice little crunch to it—and in ribbon form the zucchini looks so pretty in their twirly floofs. So, sorry not sorry—you just have to ribbon them.
The fastest, easiest way to do this is with a mandolin. If you don't have one, consider adding it to your kitchen toolbox—I love mylittle green benriner slicerand it only cost about $25. Buta vegetable peeler works for making squash ribbons too. It's just slightly slower going.
After ribboning, I dress this zucchini with red pepper flake, mustard, lemon juice, and some shaved ricotta salata. I add salted roasted cashews for nuttiness and crunch, and a lot of fresh mint leaves for herbacious brightness. The combination of cashews, ricotta salata, and chili is borrowed from a snap pea salad I had Brooklyn'sThe Four Horsemenearlier this summer, but I have to say, it's even better when a crispy cutlet is involved. Cutlets just seem to have that effect.
