Asian Chicken Tenders With Zesty Lemon Sauce

Usually when you think of chicken tenders you immediately think of the drive through at a fast food restaurant and their crispy yet completely unhealthy chicken tenders!  Sure, they may taste good but you don't always know what parts of the chicken have been formed into that shape and they are deep fried so they are loaded with fat.  Yuck, that doesn't sound so tasty to me.  But there are ways to make homemade chicken tenders in the oven that bake up crunch and super flavorful and the best part is they really are easy to make!  A trick I learned that makes them feel even a little more indulgent is when they are almost done cooking I pull them out and use a pastry brush or carefully toss them in a ziploc bag or bowl in a little bit of sauce and then finish baking them.  It creates this yummy, caramelized coating on top of the crispy panko exterior!

Asian Chicken Tenders
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 12

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup panko crispy bread crumbs

1/2 cup sweet-and-sour sauce

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel 

 

Cut each chicken breast across grain into 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices. In medium bowl, mix soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic powder. Add chicken; stir gently until coated. Let stand 20 minutes to marinate.
 

Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil; spray foil with cooking spray. You can also place a metal cooling rack on top of the pan and spray it with cooking spray.  This allows air to circulate on all sides and make them extra crispy! Place bread crumbs in shallow dish. Drain off any remaining soy sauce mixture from chicken. Toss chicken pieces in bread crumbs to coat; arrange in single layer in pan.
 

Bake 5 minutes. Turn chicken; bake 5 to 7 minutes longer or until golden brown and crisp.
 

In small bowl, stir together sweet-and-sour sauce and lemon peel. Serve chicken with sauce for dipping.

 

Thai Chicken with Basil

I absolutely love Thai food!  It is one of my favorite ethnic cuisines, but unfortunately its really not that healthy for you.  Every once in a while it is ok but it is not something that I can consistently be eating.  This recipe gives me those same great Thai flavors but only has 210 calories and 8 g of fat per serving.  If you love Thai food definitely try out this healthified version and if you are a little wary of Thai food this would be a good one to start out with!

Thai Chicken with Basil
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
4 Servings

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 pound)
1 T canola or soybean oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red or green jalapeno chiles, seeded and finely chopped
1 T fish sauce or reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 T chopped fresh mint leaves
1 T chopped unsalted, roasted, peanuts

Cut each chicken breast into 4 pieces.

Spray skilled with cooking spray.  Add oil; heat over medium high heat.  Cook chicken, garlic and chiles in oil, 8-10 minutes until chicken is no longer pink in center.  Stir in fish sauce and sugar.  Sprinkle with basil, mint and peanuts. 

Source: Live Better America

Spicy Sweet and Sour Pork from The Titanium Chef

This is a quick and easy dinner and tastes delicious!  Its a nice one-dish dinner that is loaded with veggies, tender pork and ad a bold Asian inspired flavor.  A bed of coconut rice would be a perfect accompaniment!

Spicy Sweet and Sour Pork

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 pound pork tenderloin cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 T cornstarch, divided
3 T low-sodium soy sauce, divided
1 8-ounce can pineapple chunks in juice, undrained
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 T ketchup
3 tsp Sriracha (hot chile sauce)
1 T canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup slivered green onions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place almonds on a baking sheet; bake for 4 minutes or until toasted and set aside.  While almonds cook, combine pork, 1 T cornstartch and 1 T soy sauce; toss well to coat.  Drain pineapple in a sieve over a bowl, reserving juice.  Combine Juice, remaining 1 T cornstarch, remaining 2 T soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, ketchup and Sriracha, stirring with a whisk.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add canola oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add pork to pan, saute 3 minutes.  Add 1 cup onion, ginger and garlic; saute 1 minute.  Stir in pineapple and bell pepper, saute 3 minutes stirring frequently.  Stir in vinegar mixture; bring to a boil.  Cook 1 minute; stirring constantly.  Sprinkle with almonds and green onions.

Coconut Rice:  Combine 1 cup uncooked basmati rice, 1 1/4 cups water, 1/2 cup light coconut milk and 1/4 tsp salt in a small saucepan; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 16 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.