Rather than rambling on and on about my gluten-free life, today I’m just going to share a quick, yummy, perfect-for-summer recipe - Walnut Crusted Chicken.
There are quite a few reasons why I love this recipe. Most importantly, it’s something that you can prepare and then eat in a variety of ways. Until a few months ago, I lived alone and that meant having leftovers from every meal. And let’s be honest, you can recycle tacos into taco salad and nachos for so many meals before it’s unhealthy. Another great thing about this recipe is that it utilizes mostly pantry ingredients and it was something I made without a trip to the grocery store. Now that we live in a small rural town, we’re learning to deal with out-of-control grocery prices and so we’re trying to be more conscious about using what we already have.
Ingredients:
- 2 Chicken Breasts - sliced in half
- 1/3 Cup of Chopped Walnuts
- 2 Tablespoons of Grated Parmesan
- 2 Cloves of Fresh Garlic
- 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
- 1 Large Egg White
- Fresh Ground
- Black Pepper
- Kosher Salt
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees (F).
- Take two cloves of garlic and press them with the back of a wide chef's knife. Or if you are fancy and own a garlic press, go ahead and use it!
- Place the two cloves of garlic in a food processor and chop them into fairly fine pieces.
- Add 1/3 cup of chopped walnuts and 2 tablespoons of parmesan to the garlic.
- Process all of these ingredients until everything is uniform in size - this will be the coating for your chicken. (If you don't eat gluten free, feel free to add two slices of dried out bread before processing)
- Dump the mixture into a fairly large and shallow bowl.
- In a small dish, beat an egg white with a whisk until it is nice and frothy.
- Next, take your chicken breasts and slice them in half down the center.
- Take each breast and dip it in the egg white until it is covered.
- Then, place the chicken in the walnut coating and make sure that it is covered on both sides.
- It sometimes helps to press the coating with your hand onto the chicken. This doesn't have to be perfect. You should have enough coating for four chicken breast halves.
- In an ovenproof skillet (ideally one large enough for all of your chicken), add olive oil and heat over medium to high heat.
- Place the chicken in the skillet and cook it for about 3 or 4 minutes until it is browned on the bottom side.
- Grind fresh salt and pepper over the chicken breasts.
- Then, using a spatula, carefully flip the chicken over in the pan and grind salt and pepper over this side of the chicken, as well. (Some of your walnut coating may fall off - once again, don't worry about it being perfect.)
- Place the entire skillet in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes.
At this point, your chicken is finished and could be served for dinner with any sides that you choose - when I first made this recipe, it was the middle of winter, and I found that roasted garlic mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus were classic but delicious choices! While the chicken made a great dinner entree, I enjoyed it even more the next day.
Another great thing about this recipe is that it’s versatile, some changes you could make include
- Substituting almonds or pecans for walnuts
- Creating a salad with carmelized apples and bleu cheese
- Adding fresh berries and feta to the salad
- Including other veggies like avocado or cucumber - anything that needs used in the fridge!
Do you find yourself eating more salad during the hot summer? What are your favorite salad toppings? I’m always looking for new variations!
Love,
The College Cuisiner’s Guest for the Day
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