Paleo Baked Chicken Fingers & Panko-crusted Asparagus

Yesterday was an all-out work day. We walked upstairs to the loft at like 8:30 a.m. and didn’t walk down till dinner around 5. I’m pretty sure it would count as a sixth work day if I hadn’t snuck in some Diablo III beta and World of Warcraft mid-afternoon. I was having a blast with Diablo until sometime yesterday when I completely beat the Beta. I know I’m a total newb, but I thought it would last a little longer? Oh well, I’ll just have to make more characters…

Neil escaped to the grocery store sometime during the afternoon and come back with chicken strips, asparagus and some more chicken for today. We decided to do a makeover on one of our favorite recipes from a year or so ago, Baked Chicken Fingers. According to our analytics, it is one of our most popular recipes to date, probably because for parents it’s a healthier, less processed staple they know their kids will love. I was totally geeked out over the return of asparagus too. I can’t wait for veggie season!

For the Paleo Baked Chicken Fingers, you’ll need:

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken tenders
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dried shredded coconut, unsweetened
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 teaspoon course salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard seed
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
4 teaspoons honey

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pour oil into a shallow bowol. Mix coconut flour and spices in a separate shallow bowl and in a third shallow bowl, add shredded coconut
3. Dredge each chicken strip in flour (shake of excess), then oil and finally dip into shredded coconut and spices. Lightly press the coconut into the chicken to adhere.
4. Place prepared chicken strips on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn chicken over and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
5. Set oven to broil and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes until golden.

For the Panko-crusted Asparagus, you’ll need:

Ingredients:

1 Bunch asparagus
2 tablespoons Extra virgin olive oil + additional if necessary
2/3 cup Panko crumbs
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon paprika
Freshly cracked salt + pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. Wash and clip ends of asparagus. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and oil lightly.
3. Lay asparagus on baking sheet and roll in oil.
4. Add dry ingredients to a bowl or Ziploc bag and mix thoroughly
5. Pour dry mix evenly over oiled asparagus and turn asparagus to evenly coat.
6. Bake for 15 minutes

As you might have guessed, Panko is not a Paleo-approved ingredient. However, they’ve been sitting in our pantry for a while taking up valuable real estate, and I wanted to use them up rather than just toss ’em. They were a fun way to jazz up asparagus, and the compilation of this recipe is MUCH lighter than I’ve seen elsewhere. Many of the recipes I found incorporated nearly a cup of mayo. Nothing is more tragic than veggie death by mayo drowning.

Baking and wait time make for perfect training moments in our house. We’re working with Tildy on “SIT.” and knowing her own name. The reward for correct recall of both are unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, her favorite.

Today has been another work for work day and some house work as well. It looks like a hurricane blew through here. Blegh! I think I need a new cleaning strategy, do you guys have one that works? My current one-day-a-week strategy feels overwhelming.