Thursday, November 20, 2008

A Kid's Favorite: Oven-Baked Chicken Strips

chicken strips with pasta

I remember the first time I ate chicken nuggets. I was twelve. A friend's mom picked me up to bring me to a school event. She stopped by McDonald's to feed her kids dinner. I had never entered a fast-food restaurant and I couldn't believe my luck. When asked what I wanted, I quickly and conveniently forgot that I had been fed a healthy dinner by my mother . I settled on the chicken nuggets. I don't remember if I liked them. All that remains of that night is the memory of how elated I was at being able to add "eating at a fast-food restaurant" to my life-experiences.

Nowadays, I only eat chicken nuggets when they are homemade. My kids are the ones who do not like fast-food. Thank you SuperSize Me! Truth be told, they weren't fans even before they saw this documentary.

Here's a version of chicken strips that is both healthy and delicious. It is based on a recipe I found on eatingwell.com.

chicken strips served

Oven-Baked Chicken Strips with Spices (serves 4)

olive oil cooking spray
1/2 cup of almond meal
1/4 cup of garbanzo bean flour, or other
1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup of egg whites
1 to 1 1/2 pounds of chicken tenders

Preheat oven to 375F.
Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Add a thin layer of oil (sprayed on) to paper.
In a bowl mix the almond meal, flour, and spices. Add the olive oil and work in with a spoon or your fingers until evenly distributed.
In another bowl, pour the egg whites.
Take the chicken strips and coat them in the egg whites. Then, one by one, dip them in the almond mixture pressing each side to coat. Place the crumb coated chicken strips onto the prepare cookie sheet. Spray some olive oil on top of the strips.
Place in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes. Chicken strips are cooked inner-temperature reaches 160F when checked with a meat thermometer. Keep an eye on it to avoid burning and to keep the chicken moist. Serve with your favorite dip.

18 comments:

Stacey Snacks said...

Alexa,
I think my crazy mom took us to Burger King one time in all of our childhood.
I used to crave a Whopper or Big Mac if I had a migraine headache, no lie, it must be the sodium.
I haven't eaten one in 15 years and don't think I could ever eat anything but the fries in fast food places.
I know better!
I have 2 friends, overweight and are addicted to McDonald's.

Supersize my glass of wine!
Stace

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

I am so obsessed by the recipe that you have posted this is definitely the best for kids than what they prefer form food joints...

kat said...

that coating is just beautiful

Dewi said...

Alexa dear,
My 2 gorgeous nephew (7 & 4 yrs old) are coming for christmas from overseas, the oldest one will loves this. The younger one born vegetarian (refuse to eat poultry, meat, fish, sometimes eggs) we don't really know, where that coming from...
Anyway, I am bookmarking this, and will make it when they come. Thanks for the recipe!
Cheers,
Elra

Mary Ann said...

How funny- we had something similar last night- your twist sounds amazing and definitely fun for the kids!

Anonymous said...

From age 3 to 14, chicken fingers are all my daughter ever ate when dining out.

She still likes them, but is now more inclined at 16 to order something different!

I'll have to save this recipe though!

Robin said...

I think my kids would like this jazzed up version of "nuggets". I do like the homemade version better anyway. I am with Stacey, sometimes I crave fast food when I have a headache, maybe it is the sodium?? Does it cure my headache? No but for some reason it helps get my appetite back on track. Hmmm!

rachel said...

I make a version of these oven baked nuggets for my kids. Your recipe looks better and more flavorful, so I can serve them to my husband as well.

Jeanine - The Baking Beauties said...

Mmm...I miss chicken fingers! These look fantastic! I will need to give these a try. :) Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I make the "not complicated" version of this for my daughter. I might actually eat your version for myself - delish!

--Marc

Jennifer said...

Delicious!!!

Elizabeth said...

Wow, those chicken strips came out looking wonderful. I'm impressed!

Christo Gonzales said...

wow these look really crispy and good....

Katie said...

I'm not a fast-food kind of girl either. I bet the spices are really good on this chicken..it looks good!

Anonymous said...

Amazing photos and delightful dishes, makes my stomach growl! :)

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Kids favourites? What kids? It's a favourite of mine too! I really like your coating with the garbanzo flour. I've been hearing only good things about garbanzo flour, I should try it soon! These look reallt delicious!

Ashley Nicole. said...

Hmm. I'm actually more intrigued by the pasta you have in the background there. What's that?

Alexa said...

Ashley Nicole,

The pasta is from an earlier post. Here's the link to it:
Mustard greens and pumpkin pasta sauce
It is super easy to make and delicious. Enjoy!

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