Baked Breaded Chicken Strips

Okay, here goes...my first blog recipe. Portion pricing is not available since a lot of these products were already in existence at my house.

Baked Breaded Chicken Strips
Got leftover chicken breasts? I did after not watching the oven while making OJ Chicken (a recipe I will post in the near future) and the 6 chicken breasts came out drier than I wished. So while my roommate and I choked down the dry chicken breast, my head started formulating in what I was going to do with the remaining 4 pieces left. I checked my fridge to see what I could improvise. If you ever watch Psych on USA network, you know the main character Shawn has this innate ability to pick out things and they do this weird lighted highlight special effect when he locates certain things. This is what I am like a lot of times. Saw a loaf of bread I forgot about, Dijon mustard and Greek yogurt. I thought at first maybe chicken salad made with Greek yogurt (a healthy mayo substitute). After I checked the bread, it seemed a little dry, so I thought why not just dry them all out to make breadcrumbs...breadcrumbs, chicken, breaded chicken...baked breaded chicken strips!!! This is just how my neurotic brain works. So I scoured the web for suggestions on no-fry chicken strips. Many tell you to dredge in flour, then dip in egg, then coat in breadcrumb. That's just incredibly messy to me. Even with the dry hand-wet hand method (I'll get to that in a sec) I always end up with a wad of flour-egg-breadcrumb goop on my hands. So I looked for a non egg-flour recipes and found one here-

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/recipes/2003/06/04/mustardy-breaded-baked-chicken-strips/

I wanted something to cut the mustard since the Trader Joe's brand we had is very sinus- clearing even in small amounts but still needed a strong "glue"for the breadcrumbs to stick to the chicken, so decided to add the Greek yogurt.

*Real Quick Breadcrumb Recipe: Lay the bread slices out on a sheet pan and toast them at 300 degrees on both sides until they dry out. Any bread will work, timing will vary depending on the type of bread. Just make sure you keep an eye on it, I've burned many pieces of bread by forgetting about it. I happened to have Trader Joe's California Style Complete Protein Bread which makes excellent and healthy breadcrumbs. The wheatberries, corn and oats add a touch of sweetness. After the slices cool down, place dried bread in a large plastic bag, e.g., Ziploc, Glad...and roll over with rolling pin or smash with wooden mallet. Great way to get some aggression out. Crush to as fine as you need it. For this recipe, I like to have it more coarse.

Baked Breaded Chicken Strips

Ingredients:
4 Leftover chicken breasts cut into strips or raw chicken breast cut into strips
3/4 Cup Greek Yogurt (I like 0% Fat Fage)
3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder or fresh minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
Handful of chives chopped finely
1 cup of breadcrumbs (see above recipe or use ready to use)
3/4 cup Shredded or grated Parmesan
Dried Oregano
Dried Basil
Dried Pepper Flakes
Salt
Pepper
Green onions and/or chives chopped for garnish

*If you're using raw chicken strips, cut up the chicken after all the other steps to prevent cross contamination.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Lightly oil or pan-spray a sheet pan. I prefer to lay foil down first for easier clean up later.

Mix the Greek yogurt, Dijon, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder, and chives in a bowl. It should look like this:


Set aside a few tablespoons of the mixture in a smaller container.

In a separate shallow bowl or plate, mix the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, 4-5 shakes each of dried oregano and basil and red pepper flakes if desired. Don't afraid to use your hands to incorporate the ingredients well.

With a spoon or butter knife, smear the mustard yogurt mixture on the strips evenly. The hand holding the strip is now your "wet hand." Try not to let it glop in places. Gently place the strip on the breadcrumbs, use your "dry hand" to scoop breadcrumbs on top of the strips. pat down to make sure the breadcrumbs adhere on all sides. Try to only use your dry hand to breadcrumb. Lay the strip down on the sheet pan. Repeat.

When done breading and all strips are the pan, sprinkle a little more olive oil on the tops of the strips and place in oven.

Bake about 10 minutes on each side. If using raw chicken, check for doneness by making sure only clear liquid comes out when you cut into the chicken.

Be warned that some of the breading may come off, so carefully remove from pan using a spatula. You can see some balding strips in the pic above. Put those on the bottom of your chicken strip pile when serving=)

Mix the reserved mustard yogurt mixture you set aside earlier and add 1 tablespoon of honey or this wonderful product called Blue Agave Sweetener (can be found at Trader Joe's). This will be your dipping sauce along with whatever your favorite sauce is. I added Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce in the dish next to the mustard yogurt mixture. Garnish chicken strips with chives or green onions if desired.

Dip in your sauce. Eat. Repeat.
I apologize for the orientation of some of the pics. I can't seem to figure out how to fix it yet.

Ganbai!
DD