Andi’s Tropical Crunch Chicken

Our son’s girlfriend decided to make us dinner last night. She and our son were stopping by anyway and, after the tomato sauce debacle, she knew I wasn’t able to do much. I felt guilty as she lugged in bags of ingredients but, once I tasted her chicken strips, I got over it. They were wonderfully crunchy and the coconut and orange flavors made her dish like a trip to the Caribbean. Since she didn’t have a name for her chicken I dubbed it Andi’s Tropical Crunch Chicken.

By the time they arrived Andi had already juiced the orange and had been marinating the chicken for about an hour.

She threw the coconut flakes into my food processor and spun them for about 30 seconds. This released the oil and also minced the coconut flakes.

Next Andi put three cups of corn flakes into a gallon size food storage bag and added the coconut.

She crushed the corn flakes with her hands. She wasn’t making them into fine crumbs. For this dish you want some of the flakes still relatively intact but small.

Next she dipped the chicken strips, a couple at a time, into a couple of whisked egg whites and then dropped the chicken into the bag of corn flake/coconut mixture. She shook the bag to coat the strips with the mix. When all the chicken was coated she placed them on a foil lined baking sheet she’d sprayed with non-cook cooking spray. I admit I didn’t get pictures of these steps as I had to go lie down for a bit but here they are ready to go in the oven.

The chicken baked for about 7 minutes at 400°F then Andi turned them over and continued baking them for about another 10 minutes until the internal temperature was 165°F.

Andi had also made some shoestring fries and served the chicken strips with those and a salad.

A plate of total yummy!

 

Andi’s Tropical Crunch Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 large orange
• 3 cups corn flakes
• 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
• 2 egg whites

 

Directions:

1. Slice chicken breasts into strips as evenly as possible
2. Juice the orange into a casserole dish large enough to hold the chicken strips
3. Place chicken strips in juice in a single layer
4. Marinate chicken for 2 hours (no longer than 4 hours) – do not turn chicken
5. Preheat oven to 400°F
6. Put coconut in a food processor with a metal blade and process until coconut is minced very fine and oil is released (about 30 – 40 seconds)
7. Pour corn flakes into a large food storage bag and add coconut
8. Crush the corn flakes mixture using your hands or a rolling pin
9. Whisk egg whites in a medium size bowl
10. Dip chicken strips in egg whites and drop them, a few at a time, into the corn flake mixture
11. Seal the bag and shake it to coat the chicken strips
12. Continue to dip the chicken into the egg whites and corn flake mixture until all the chicken is coated
13. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray
14. Place chicken in a single layer on the baking sheet
15. Bake for 7 minutes then turn the chicken over and continue baking until the internal temperature is 165°F (about another 9 – 10 minutes)

 

 

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