Spicy Peanut Encrusted Chicken Tenders

After a whirlwind weekend with my best friend in town from New Jersey, B and I were looking forward to making a simple, no-fuss dinner on Sunday night.  After some discussion, we decided to make a healthier version of breaded chicken tenders.  Typically, when we make breaded chicken tenders, we do a basic dredging and breading technique using flour, eggs, and panko bread crumbs.  But this time we decided to use some different ingredients to see if we could make this a bit healthier without sacrificing on flavor or texture.

To start, B got to work trimming the fat off some already lean chicken breasts.  He trimmed them down to smaller tender pieces, which would be easier for the breading process.  This would also help the chicken cook evenly and more quickly.  After trimming the chicken, B started in on the bread crumbs.  We decided to try using crushed peanuts in lieu of bread.  He put in a generous cup and a half of unsalted, shelled peanuts in the food processor along with a few shakes of salt, fresh cracked mixed peppercorns, garlic powder and red pepper flakes.  The food processor very easily and quickly pulsed the peanuts to a nice bread crumb texture.

Meanwhile, I got to work on the marinade that would bind the crushed peanuts to the chicken.  Again, thinking healthy, I decided to skip the eggs and work with mustard instead.  I have found that mustard is a great ingredient to work with because it has no sugar and very few calories (depending on the type of mustard you are using).  I decided to use what was left in a jar of Trader Joe's Aioli Garlic mustard that we had in the fridge but realized that there wasn't enough to just use it alone so I added some leftover Grey Poupon deli mustard to the mix.  To thin out the mustard, I added both rice wine vinegar and vegetable oil to taste and whisked the mustard until I was satisfied with its consistency.

I realize that the picture above is a bit messy.  I didn't bother up cleaning the bowl for the photo since I'd be using the same bowl to coat the chicken.  After the chicken had a nice coating of the mustard marinade, it went into a baking dish to get a nice layer of peanut crumbs.

Then the chicken went into the oven at 400 degrees for about twenty minutes.  I never fry chicken tenders because baking is way more healthier and gives you an even better crispy result.  Plus, I will just put some aluminum foil on a baking sheet with some cooking spray and this also makes cleaning up super easy.  After we put the chicken in the oven, we turned the tenders about halfway through baking to get an even crispy coating on both sides.

The end result was incredibly tasty.  I didn't keep an eye on B when he added the red pepper flakes but he must have been generous because there was a nice kick to the crumb coating.  While the coating didn't stick to the chicken as well as a traditional breading, I think it held up well overall.  The tenders had deeper layers of flavor with the hint of mustard taste along with the subtle peanut flavor.  We didn't think this would be a spicy dish so we paired it with a Sriracha-mayo dipping sauce, which added a lot of heat.  Thankfully the arugula salad helped cut the intensity of heat.  The arugula salad had sliced hard-boiled eggs, mozzarella cheese and for me, cooked shrimp.  It was kind of a random mix of what we had as leftovers in our fridge and freezer but tasty all the same.

This dish was definitely creative in its ingredients and a great alternative to our typical breaded chicken dish. I think it was a hit and we'll add it to the roster when we're looking to cook a bit healthier.

So tell me, what healthy substitutions you make to your favorite dishes?

Olivia's Croutons Straight from Vermont

Last week, my friends at PMG reached out to me to introduce me to one of their clients - Olivia's Croutons.  I did some research and discovered that Olivia's Croutons has been around for a little over ten years.  Located in Vermont, the company started out in their home kitchen with one crouton flavor - Butter & Garlic.  As business grew, Olivia's Croutons relocated and utilized a commercial kitchen to make their croutons.  They eventually moved to New Haven, Vermont and expanded their products from just croutons to also include tostini and organic croutons.  When I checked out their website, I discovered that they had a variety of different flavors of croutons.  And lucky for me, Olivia's Croutons generously sent over five boxes of different flavors for me to sample.  

I've got to be honest, I'm not a huge crouton person.  I've found that most commercial croutons are either too dry or artificially seasoned that it loses its natural bread flavors.  But Olivia's Croutons is really different.  The company has a focus on delivering "a wholesome, all natural, uncomplicated product" and that is absolutely what you find.  When the package arrived, I immediately opened a box of the Organic Garlic & Herb.  I discovered that the croutons were so good that I could actually snack on them straight out of the box!

As good as they were to snack on, I was excited to try using the different flavors of croutons in a variety of dishes.  I decided to try the croutons out the old-fashioned way - with a salad.  I started out with the Vermont Cheddar and Dill.  I of course tried a crouton one straight out of the box and it had a nice baked cheddar flavor with a mild hint of dill. 

I decided to make a very simple salad using leftover Olivia's Organics herb salad tossed in a light Italian vinagrette.  I also included some leftover goat cheese, tuna fish and fresh cracked black pepper.  I added the Vermont Cheddar & Dill croutons, which was a great complement to the salad. 

The greens with the tangy dressing and goat cheese nicely contrasted with the mellow baked cheddar taste of the croutons.  I was definitely pleased using the croutons in a traditional salad.

The following day I decided to try the Multi-Grain Garlic croutons.  These croutons were cut from multi-grain bread and it had a nice herby and almost nutty taste.  There was a mild flavor of garlic in the croutons overall although some pieces tasted a bit more garlicky than others.

Since I had previously paired the croutons with a salad, I wanted to try it with a soup instead.  A few weeks ago, I made a huge batch of rustic beef stew and I froze half of it.  Since I knew I'd be working late, I took the beef stew out of the freezer to dethaw during the day.  Besides, I figured that a rustic beef stew would be perfect for a St. Patrick's Day dinner.  We usually eat beef stew with a piece of crusty bread, but we decided to try the croutons with the stew instead.

As you can tell from the picture, the croutons were huge and matched the size of the chopped vegetables and beef.  Because of the large size of the croutons, they didn't sop the soup up as well as a piece of bread would have.  But the crunch was a pleasant addition to the stew and even after the sample of croutons are long gone, I'll definitely think about pairing croutons with a soup or stew in the future.

Finally, last night, I decided to try the croutons a bit differently.  I took a box of the Butter and Garlic croutons and each crouton was deliciously buttery with a nice garlicky flavor. 

I decided to use the croutons to make a nice bread crumb coating for some chicken tenders.  I decided to use our handy food processor, which is one of my favorite kitchen appliances, to grind the croutons up to a fine crumb texture. 

I ended up with a few cups of bread crumbs but I wanted to be on the safe side so I decided to throw a box of the Organic Garlic and Herb croutons in the food processor as well.

I combined the two different types of bread crumbs.  I immediately knew these would be much better than generic bread crumbs because they were a bit thicker in crumb texture and way more flavorful.  The herb and garlic flavor tasted like herbs and garlic - not the artificial flavors that you find in other bread crumb products.

We did a simple flour, egg and bread crumb coating and baked the chicken in the oven.  I paired the chicken with a roasted beets tossed with goat cheese, white champagne balsamic vinagrette, caramelized onions, olive oil and a garlic mustard.  I used a recipe adapted from one of my favorite food blogs, Closet Cooking.

The bread crumbs were more crunchy than commercial bread crumbs although not quite as crunchy as a panko bread crumb.  The thick and crunchy bread crumbs created a really memorable breading on the chicken because the flavor really stood out.  Unlike commercial bread crumbs, the herb, butter and garlic flavors really popped and added something nice to a simple baked and breaded chicken dish.  The croutons resulted in bread crumbs that just tasted so much better than anything you would get off of the shelf at the grocery store.

In fact, I found that no matter what way I used and of the croutons, the natural flavor of the bread and herbs really came out.  Although I don't normally do a lot of product reviews, I really can't say enough good things about Olivia's Croutons.  Everything is simple and straightforward - from the packaging to the flavors.  I found the company to be incredibly thoughtful in sending out so many packages for me to try out and to even enclose a handwritten note from the co-owner, Francie Williams Caccavo.  But I shouldn't be surprised coming from a company that started out in their own kitchen and naming their company after their daughter, Olivia.  

Olivia's Croutons is located in New Haven, Vermont.  I'm hoping their products will hit the grocery store shelves near me soon but in the meantime, they take both retail and wholesale orders through their website.