Tortilla Chip Crusted Chicken Tenders

What do you do with those last bits of crumbly tortilla chips at the bottom of the bag? Some may crumple up the bag and throw them away, but there are quite a few things that can be done with those tiny little highly seasoned pieces. I'm one who hates to waste so I try my best to use every last bit of what is left. Even more so now that I have been reading An Everlasting Meal from Tamar Adler. Her approach to cooking food is simple but elegant and rustic at the same time. Since starting her book, my desire to experiment in the kitchen has grown so much more than before. I can be baking all morning at work yet when I come home, I'm ready to continue spending my time in the kitchen. Yesterday was my day off and I spent the majority of it in my happy place. I love spending time preparing food. It's zen-like to me. Some people think I'm silly for taking the amount of time I do to prepare my meals but it's a process for me. A process I enjoy very much.
A process I don't enjoy very much is writing recipes. I've had people on Instagram ask for recipes but to me, the act of stopping my flow to write down measurements just ruins the experience. Hence, the reason why I haven't posted anything in six months. I understand that baking is a science and is deserving of a written recipe, but I want to try something new on this blog for non-"baking" items and simply talk through the process. Recipes have always been difficult for me to follow anyway. They just don't ever come out right. You have to take into account that all the variables are different for each person preparing the recipe. Altitude, heat of your oven, gas or electric range. Tamar Adler touches on this subject in her book and it's the first time I found someone else who gets it. "No matter how well a cookbook is written, the cooking time will be wrong. Ingredients don't take three or five or ten minutes to be done; it depends on the day and the stove. So you must simply pay attention, trust yourself, and decide" (64).
Now back to those tortilla chips, which is the whole purpose of this post. I decided to use them as the breading for chicken tenders. I had raw chicken in the fridge that needed to be cooked but I wanted more substance than just plain baked chicken for lunch. First things first, I preheated the oven to 350°F. For the breading, I took a glass jar (any heavy object will work) and smashed the leftover bag of chips to even tinier pieces. I poured the crumbs into a shallow bowl and added a little bit of cashew nut flower along with salt, pepper, red chili flakes, and smoked paprika. Everyone has different tastes so season to your liking. I was only coating about 6 pieces of chicken so adjust your ingredients as needed. (If you have a whole breast, slice into strips.) In another shallow bowl I added spelt flour for the initial coating of the tenders. In a third bowl, whisk one egg until combined. Use the spelt flour for the initial coating on the chicken. Dip into beaten egg and then coat in tortilla crumb mixture. Lay the breaded chicken down on a greased, foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes and then flip chicken pieces over. Change the oven temperature to broil and cook for about 4-5 more minutes. Watch out that you don't burn them. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes and enjoy!

I created a simple spinach salad topped with the chicken tenders and homemade pickled vegetables (carrot, fennel, and swiss chard stems.) I attempted to make the mayonnaise recipe from Adler's book, but as I've said before, I'm not good with recipes. My mayonnaise was a fail but after adding more salt, pepper, spices, and a little apple cider vinegar, it was a delicious salad dressing.

Summer Quinoa Salad

 

If you took a peek into my fridge, you would most likely find a big bowl of quinoa salad. I love having this stuff on hand. I used to just make a pot of plain quinoa but spending that extra time preparing the salad allows for quick lunch or dinner prep for the rest of the week. For lunch, I like to sprinkle over a salad and for dinner, I'll have it as a side with chicken and steamed veggies. Make this salad for yourself or try it out at your next get-together or weekend BBQ. It will pair wonderfully with grilled corn on the cob. This salad is gluten free and vegan friendly. It’s also a great source of protein, especially for those on a vegan diet, as quinoa contains a complete protein profile.

Ingredients:

Salad

1½ cups uncooked quinoa
3 cups low sodium vegetable broth
½ tablespoon chili powder
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup sliced black olives
1 cup green onions, sliced
½ cup cilantro, chopped

Dressing

¾ cup olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup low sodium tamari
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cumin

To make:

Using a fine mesh sieve, rinse quinoa under cold water. Add quinoa to a pot along with vegetable broth and chili powder. Give a quick stir and turn heat to high. Once the quinoa reaches a boil, turn heat to medium-low. You want a slow boil. Cook for about 25 minutes or until quinoa is done. Fluff with fork and allow to cool completely. Quinoa may be made a day in advance and refrigerated. In a large bowl, add cooked quinoa, and remaining ingredients for the salad. Gently mix well. In a smaller bowl, combine all your ingredients for the dressing. Whisk together and pour over salad. Stir to evenly distribute dressing. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat. I like to chill it for an hour or two to allow the flavors to meld.

Dinner in a Ramekin

 One of the things I'm trying to work on in my life is to save money. As I look over my account statements I'm amazed at how much money I spend on food. What can I say, I love food. I love cooking and I love eating out... trying new places and going back to the ones I like best. So now I'm trying to do as my mom does and use up everything in the kitchen before going to the store again. After going to the gym and meeting my friend for a walk today I was starving by the time I got home. What to make... I still had some leftover tomato sauce as well as zucchini middles (these were leftover from making noodles last night.) I also had a little bit of steamed kale and green beans. I decided to make a veggie layer bake with a side salad. For the veggie bake I started by sauteing sliced zucchini with a lot of red chili flakes. I spread a layer of tomato sauce in a ramekin and added the zucchini. I sprinkled a little bit of goat milk cheddar and topped that with my next mixture of sauteed veggies which consisted of garlic, onion, and green and red bell pepper. I added half of the veggies into the ramekin and added another layer of sauce. Once I added the rest of the sauteed veggies, I sprinkled on some cheese and baked it in the oven for around seven minutes at 350 degrees.

My side salad consisted of kale, green beans, and tomato sprinkled with hemp seeds. I prepared a homemade vinaigrette of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and dijon mustard.

For throwing all these odds and ends together, it made for a very tasty dinner with no additional shopping or spending required.

Healthy Burger, No Fries

My mind has been a bit fuzzy lately, so I knew I needed to add some more protein into my diet.  I do love a good steak (hormone and antibiotic free, of course) but  I'm terrible at preparing them at home.  Burgers are easier.  I seasoned ground beef with a little salt, pepper, and cayenne.  I cooked it on my mini George Foreman grill.  It's great to use for grilling vegetables, which is what I did with the bell pepper on my salad.  For the burger "bun" I used Julian Bakery dinner bread.  Its wheat-free and delicious.  They add rosemary, which gives it a really yummy flavor.  I always love this bread toasted.  On one slice I spread horseradish and Dijon mustard.  I just discovered this mustard from True Natural Taste the other day at the the health food store. It's wheat and gluten free, organic, and made with cider vinegar.  On the other toasted slice of bread I spread some hummus.  I've been on a hummus kick lately so I'm eating it with everything. The salad consists of arugula, grilled red bell pepper, feta cheese, ground flax seeds and a dressing of olive oil, flax oil, and lemon juice. This is a healthy alternative to a burger and fries.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Everyone always talks about making turkey sandwiches with their Thanksgiving leftovers but why not a turkey salad? This morning I made myself a salad with the leftover arugula, pecans, and blue cheese we used for our roasted pear and arugula salad, turkey, and quinoa stuffing. I heated both the turkey and stuffing to take the chill off. I also added ground flax and pomegranate seeds. The dressing was a mixture of olive and flax oil and lemon juice. 

I had a lovely thanksgiving this year. It was just my mom and me. For the past two years I haven't been home so it was so nice to cook and spend time with her. Our goal was to create a very healthy meal and we did just that. Everything we made was free of wheat and refined sugars. Here is what we made to go along with our turkey.

Roasted pear and arugula salad with blue cheese and toasted pecans.

Steamed green beans.

Steamed sweet potatoes and yams mashed with yacon syrup and a splash of cream.

Quinoa stuffing with Julian Bakery dinner bread.

Cranberry sauce with orange zest and agave.

Gravy made from roasted veggies and vegetable stock.