Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

This one is from Our Best Bite's recipe book. They are delicious! If you don't like coconut, I think you'll still like this recipe because there's not a strong coconut flavor or texture.

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers
from Our Best Bites
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
Boneless, skinless chicken breast (this will make about 1-1/2 large chicken breast halves) in small pieces, or use about 12 chicken tenders

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. Chop coconut so it's roughly the same size as the bread crumbs.
3. Combine the coconut, bread crumbs, and spices in a shallow dish. Stir well to make sure everything is evenly distributed.
4. Place the flour in a shallow dish and the eggs in another shallow dish. Whisk the eggs.
5. Working with one chicken piece at a time, dredge the chicken in flour, shaking off any excess. Then dip in the egg, again shaking off any excess. Roll in the bread crumb/coconut mixture, gently pressing the mixture onto the chicken. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken tenders. To add a little extra crunch, you can drizzle each one with a tiny bit of olive oil (I like to do this).
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until juices run clear, being careful not to overcook them. Cooking time may be less or more depending on the size of the chicken pieces. The coconut and bread crumbs will be lightly golden brown and crispy.

We really like dipping these in honey mustard. I've used both Litehouse and Ken's honey mustards and they are both delicious.

While an easy meal to make, it is not that quick as breading the chicken takes forever. Once I had Adrian and the kids take care of that part and it went really fast, but usually it's just me so it goes really slow.

Chicken Tostadas

After spending 18 months in the San Diego area, working mostly among Mexicans, I got to the point where I craved Mexican food and could have eaten it three times a day and been happy.  Well, 8-ish years later, it's been a while since I've tried cooking real Mexican food.  This recipe for chicken tostadas is AMAZING and took me right back to eating the authentic food cooked by the Mexican families I worked with.  The leftovers were great.  I ate them for about 4 consecutive meals and could have kept going.  For the leftovers, make sure you fry up the tortillas fresh.

Check out the recipe at Epicurious  Chicken Tostadas Recipe

Tortilla Bowl Taco Salad

So, this is the first real meal I've cooked in a long time. AKA not pasta, pizza, or grilled cheese.

My mother-in-law gave us these pans a couple months ago and I honestly thought they were the actual taco bowls, not pans to bake taco bowls in. I figured out the truth when I was cleaning my pantry this past weekend and took a closer look. 

First, I thawed and trimmed a frozen boneless skinless chicken breast.

I am pretty picky with my chicken (along with most of the Schows), so I ended up cutting it into little chunks for quicker cooking and to clear all veins and fat.

I greased the pan with spritzes of olive oil and seasoned the chicken with Johnny's seasoning. 

You can use butter or oil to keep the meat from sticking to the pan and you can use whatever seasoning you prefer.

While the chicken cooked, I diced a small tomato and 1/4 of a white onion.

I cooked the onion in a small pan with olive oil. Craig and I aren't big raw onion fans, so I generally cook them.

I used raw tortillas, so they needed to be slightly cooked in a pan before I placed them into the shaped pans. I cooked the tortillas in the oven at 400 F for 7 minutes so they would hold their shape.

For the whole assembly: tortilla bowl, iceberg lettuce, chicken, tomatoes, cooked onions, sour cream, and salsa.

I ended up throwing some ranch dressing on top for a little extra flavor and moisture. Then I dipped the extra tortilla in the salsa and sour cream.
Overall I was very happy with the tastes and textures. One thing to put it over the top is to sprinkle the tortilla with shredded cheese before baking it.

Tortilla-Bowl Taco Salad

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

1 Chicken Breast, cut into 1" chunks

1 T Olive or Canola Oil

1/4 White Onion, diced

1 Tomato, diced

1 Head Iceberg, sliced

4 Tortillas

Seasoning for Chicken (taco seasoning, Johnny's, salt & pepper)

Salad Dressing, optional 

Sour Cream, optional

Salsa, optional

Shredded cheese, optional

1. Trim chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Cook in a pan with oil and seasoning.

2. Dice onion. Cook in pan with a little oil.

3. Dice tomato and slice lettuce. Place in fridge to keep cool until all ingredients are assembled.

4. Warm tortillas. If you have tortilla bowl pans, follow instructions.

5. Place tortilla in a bowl and top with lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheese (optional).

6. Serve with dressing, sour cream, and/or salsa. 

Do any of you have different ingredients you like to add into taco salad??

Yellow Chicken - An Indonesian Specialty

This is a favorite recipe of Adrian's family, from their Indonesian father. It's absolutely delicious! You'll find the lemongrass and galanggal at the Asian market (galanggal is a spice, lemongrass is a grass that comes in a bag in the freezer/produce section). I just made a discovery: lemon grass in the produce section at Wal Mart. It is in a squeeze tube by the fresh herbs.

2 chicken breasts, cubed or thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon lemongrass
1/4 teaspoon galanggal
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cans coconut milk

Sauté onion and garlic in oil. Add all the spices to the onions and stir. Add the chicken, cook on medium/low heat stirring occasionally until cooked through. Add coconut milk, bring it to a soft boil, then remove from heat. Serve over cooked white rice.

It will seem like there's not enough liquid to cook the chicken in, but the chicken adds enough liquid. Adrian's dad would use a whole chicken (and perhaps make more of the sauce) but I'm not a fan of bone-in meat so I just used chicken breast.

The final product has a lot of sauce which is really good to put on the rice. You could probably add more chicken without affecting it too much. Adrian's dad used a whole chicken.

It's a really quick and easy recipe to make.