So, as you probably know by now, I live in Mississippi. And Mississippi is in the south. And if there were a "survival list" that we southerners had to compile for the very basic needs in order to survive down here, it would read something like:
1. Oxygen
2. Water (make that sweet tea)
3. Fried Chicken
That's right. Fried Chicken is a means of survival. It's just how we live. My first vivid food memory is my great grandmother's fried chicken. I can remember being 5 years old and pacing the kitchen just waiting for a plate full of drumsticks (making my great grandma really annoyed. She had no patience for children.)
But this blog is about a healthy spin on food and also about easy, family friendly recipes. So I modified my great grandmother's recipe. Which seems a little sacrilegious and is definitely something Grandma Murray would've whacked me with a ruler for. But I gotta do me.
These are baked chicken tenders. But they're coated in cornflakes, flour, and spices, the way God intended.
Baked Corn Flake Chicken Tenders
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups corn flakes, crushed
- 1 egg yolk (if you're making sweet potato fries with these, save the egg white - you'll be using it then)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup milk (you can use 2%, skim, soy, or even left over corn milk, like I did!)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tblsp olive oil (or olive oil spray)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut chicken breasts into 2 or 3 strips, per breast. Place strips in a shallow baking dish. Beat egg yolk and milk and pour over chicken breasts. Set aside for 10 minutes. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together crushed corn flakes, flour, cayenne, paprika, garlic, and salt, in a bowl. Once chicken has soaked in egg wash, take each strip and coat it in the corn flake mixture, pressing it firmly on the chicken to make sure it sticks. Place strips on the covered baking sheet, drizzle (or spray) lightly with oil, and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
And who doesn't want fries with their chicken tenders? Come on. We're all a big fan of the "happy meal" approach to life.
Baked Crunchy Sweet Potato Fries (adapted from Naturally Ella)
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1/2 tblsp olive oil
- 1 large egg white (use the one leftover from making chicken tenders!)
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Peel and cut sweet potatoes about 1/4 of an inch thick. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss sweet potatoes in olive oil. Whisk egg white in a bowl until frothy. Pour egg white over sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Make sure, after coating, that the fries are in a single layer and not touching. This just helps make sure they cook evenly.
Cook fries for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, flip fries to the other side, rotate the pan, and bake for another 20 minutes or until crispy.
Blammo! We just healthified fried chicken and fries! I think coating chicken in corn flakes and baking it, seals the deal that I am a total mom (just in case the whole giving birth thing didn't seal said deal).
totes making these sweet potato fries as i type.
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