Thursday, August 19, 2010

Crispy Honey 5-Spice Chicken

I have to get it out there: I had dark chocolate with strawberries for lunch, a couple of bites of ice cream for a snack, and I'm going to help at a cupcake class tonight. I need to see this picture with vegetables in it to remind myself to get back to those! I'm sure my guaranteed stomachache from the sugar and caffeine will help me get back to regular habits tomorrow, too!!

Anyway, this was really good and as I was eating it, I was thinking this would be great for people with kids as a healthy chicken nugget when all your kids want to do is go through the McD's drive thru. But hey, I don't have kids, so I don't know how hard it is to actually take care of other humans plus make them meals!
Give your cooked chicken a thin drizzle of honey right before eating!

Crispy Honey 5-Spice Chicken

adapted from Stephanie Cooks (check out her post for a ginger variation and different coating)

2 cups lowfat buttermilk
1/4 cup honey, plus extra for drizzling
2 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 pound boneless chicken tenders, cut into "nuggets"
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 slice whole wheat bread, processed to crumbs
1/2 cup bran flakes, processed to crumbs (you can use whatever combo of coating you want, but I wanted to add in some fiber with the bran)
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Combine buttermilk, honey, 1 tsp of 5-spice powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, and chicken in a Ziploc or container and marinate at least 2 hours, or overnight. (I marinated about 24 and got some really tender chicken!)
Preheat oven to 450 F.
Combine panko, 1 tsp 5-spice powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, seasoned salt, breadcrumbs, cereal crumbs, and flour in a Ziploc. Remove chicken from marinade and toss to coat. Lay out on baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 5 minutes, flip, and coat once more with nonstick cooking spray.
Serve with a drizzle of honey!

Edit: I had this for leftovers THREE times and it was great each time! For a crispier "crust" leftover, heat it in the oven. I thought it was fine heated in the microwave at work, though!

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