Smart Eats- Chicken Tenders with Ranch dressing

Remember these? We shared them on a recipe swap with Cali Kitchen Couple a few days ago. I know, you're probably thinking how on earth are chicken tenders with ranch healthy? You'd be surprised, we sure were. These baked chicken tenders are better than the fried. With wheat flour instead of white and other healthy substitutions this recipe is becoming a new staple in our household! It's seriously SOO good!!

Chicken Tenders with Ranch Dressing (Originated from Rocco Dispirito- Now Eat This!)


Recipe:
1 C Whole wheat Flour

2 1/2 C panko bread crumbs (preferably whole wheat but if you can't find it don't sweat it)

1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning

4 Large egg whites

8 oz (about 8) chicken tenders

Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Nonstick Cooking Spray (I used Pam- Organic Olive Oil)

3 tsp ranch salad dressing & seasoning mix

6 Tbl reduced-fat sour cream

6 Tbl low-fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Start by pulling out two shallow dishes and a medium bowl. In the first shallow dish, place the flour and in the second mix the panko bread crumbs with the poultry seasoning. Place the egg whites in the medium bowl. Using a whisk, whisk until the egg whites are foamy but not to where they hold stiff peaks.

 Place a wire rack over a foil-lined baking sheet. Season your chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Here's where the fun part begins. K would be very proud of my since I'm not a huge fan of touching raw meat haha. Place the chicken tenders in the flour and shake off any excess. Now place the floured chicken tenders into eggs. Coat them until they are completely covered. Once at a time, place the chicken tenders into the panko bread crumbs and coat each one completely. Place on the wire rack.

Salt and pepper the chicken tenders again as well as spray a little bit of cooking spay on each one (both sides). This will help give them a golden look. Bake at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes or until golden & cooked all the way through. 

While the chicken is baking whip together your ranch dressing by mixing the seasoning, sour cream and buttermilk together. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

The chicken tenders were delicious, especially paired with the ranch dressing. The dish is so good and pretty healthy too with only 198 calories a serving. Happy New Year everyone!

Lettuce Wraps (Inspired by PF Changs)

You cannot go to PF Changs without ordering their lettuce wraps. It's impossible! They're just way to good. I was on Pinterest the other day and found this recipe and we were very excited to try it out. Thank you CDK Kitchen, where I found the original recipe for this. So I started making these and realized I was not as prepared as I thought and made a few changes to the recipe to match what I found in the pantry. I'm so happy with how the turned out, they're so delicious!!

Recipe:

                                  Butter Lettuce Leaves

1 pound ground chicken breast
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoons red chili flakes
1 can (8 ounce size) sliced water chestnuts, drained, finely chopped (optional)
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil


Rinse leaves keeping them whole and set aside. We bought Butter Lettuce which the packaging said it was still alive. Is it weird to feel bad about killing lettuce? Haha- anyways, loved these leaves and they were so crisp and fresh it really made the dish.

In a large skillet, brown the chicken and add the onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin, ginger, red wine vinegar and chili flakes. Cook until meat is crumbled and brown.

If you are using water chestnuts (we did not use these and the dish turned out great) now is the time to add them. Also, add the green onions and cook until the green onions begin to wilt.

Get that lettuce ready because it's time to eat. We didn't even sit down to eat, we just grabbed a leaf and dished up and ate over the stove haha. Not a lot of patients in our household but when you try these, you'll understand why:-)

Enjoy!

Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad

• Last week I was asked to bring a pasta salad to the RS dinner. I wanted to try something new so I looked online and found this great recipe on allrecipe.com. Once prepared I ate a small bowl and I was hooked. I decided to make it again last night to blog about it. Both K & C agree, it's quite tasty. Now I have a confession to make...I do not eat leftovers. But I broke this rule for lunch and had some of this dish. It was so amazing. I love how the flavors come alive and can't wait for you to try it.

Recipe:

• 
  
• 1 (12 ounce) package rotelle pasta
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped green onion
• 4 cups torn fresh spinach leaves

I used rotelle pasta but feel free to use your favorite pasta for this dish. Bring to boil a pot of lightly salted water. Add pasta. Cook pasta and drain when done. Set aside in a bowl.

While cooking the pasta I made the sauce. This recipe is great because you can make everything at the same time.

Note: If you are using frozen chicken breast, now would be the time to defrost them.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Once oil is warm pour in the sesame seeds and cook on medium-high heat. You will want to stir the sesame seeds until they are golden brown (approx. 3 minutes).

Once the seeds are toasted, take off the heat. Add soy sauce, white wine vinegar and sugar. Caution: Be careful when adding the soy sauce to the pan.  The oil and seeds will bubble up. Pour in the soy sauce slowly! I didn't realize this when I first made this recipe, boy was I surprised haha! Put in a heat safe container and put aside.

So, I forgot to take pictures of the chicken...opps! Though I did get a shot of this lovely pan with oil heating in it...

Beautimous right? Haha. Well, I used three defrosted chicken tenders for this recipe. I placed the chicken in the pan once the oil was hot. Cooked on medium-high heat until cooked all the way through. While the chicken was cooking, I seasoned it with sea salt and a little bit of garlic salt for flavor. Once fully cooked, I placed it on a cutting bord and cut into small cubes.

Mix the pasta, 1 Cup of the soy sauce mixture and chicken in a large bowl. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 2+ hours. This is the best part because you can run errands or watch a few episodes of Vampire Diaries and the pasta salad is marinating to perfection. The noodles and chicken are soaking in that tangy sauce and you don't have to do a thing:-)

When you are ready to serve the salad add the green onions, parsley and spinach to the large bowl. Add more of the soy sauce mixture for flavor. It's ready to be devoured!

By far, my favorite pasta salad dish. It's nice, chilled and infused with yumminess, you really can't go wrong! Enjoy!

Spinach Dip

Super Bowl Sunday is here and we have a great dip for you. Thank you to the Knorr's vegetable soup mix, we found this recipe and had to try it out. It's super easy to make and is perfect for watching those first downs, tackles and home runs. Ha! Just kidding, you know how much I (as in B) love football!! So whether you're a Steelers or Packers fan, make sure to have this dip at your party!

Recipe:

10 oz frozen chopped spinach (thawed & squeezed dry)

16 oz sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1 pkg Knorr vegetable recipe soup mix

3 green onions, chopped

8 oz water chestnuts, chopped (optional)

1 baguette

Pour the vegetable soup mix into a large bowl

 Add thawed spinach. We ran it under warm water to help it thaw and then using paper towels squeezed out the excess water. Add to bowl.

 Add chopped green onions to the bowl.

 Add the remaining ingredient and stir.

 That's it! All that is left is to grab the bread and cut it into small slices.

 There you have it, a super easy recipe that is so good.

Enjoy!

Open-Faced Caprese on Artisian Bread

Do you like caprese salad? Do you like the crunchiness of brucheta? We'll we have a recipe for you! Welcome guest chef, C, to our kitchen. The first night C was here he whipped this up and it immediately became a household favorite.

So C... take it away...

Recipe:

1 Loaf Artisian Bread
1 Large Tomato (we used heirloom)
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Fresh Basil Leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Cut the bread into thin slices, roughly 1/4 inch thick.
Place on a cookie sheet and broil both sides until slightly browned.

While Broiling slice the tomato and cheese.


Now that the bread is toasted you can add the tomato slices and cheese (don't forget the salt and pepper) and place back in the oven to broil.

Once the cheese is nicely melted take out of the oven and top with the basil and give it a nice drizzle of EVOO.

Here is a shot of the final product. Mmmm this is a tantalizing twist on the traditional caprese, if you want to add more sustenance try adding a slice of your favorite meat. Enjoy!!

Thank you again C for this delicious addition to our blog!!