Crispy Cashew Chicken

Sometimes the week calls for a bit of creativity when it comes to meal planning. Not that anything crazy has been going on this week, but with My Husband working on a project for work it's been me and My Boys for dinner most nights. When it's just the three of us, I like to come up with a few more meals that are likely to please the palate of the youngest members of my family.
When I was grocery shopping last weekend, I was thinking about different ingredients that I wanted to have on hand. As I walked down the aisles I thought that a container of cashews might be good to have in the pantry. I wasn't sure yet whether they would end up being a snack or if they would be chopped and a coating for fish or chicken.
So, when it was time to put together dinner the other night, I decided that it was time to use the cashews. No, they did not last long in the pantry at all. To those cashews I added a couple of Penzey's seasonings that I had on hand: Shallot Salt and Aleppo Pepper. The slight hit of spice from the pepper really offsets the slightly sweet nutty flavor of the cashews.

From Family, Friends and Food

The chicken strips were irresistable! The crunchy bits were hard to stop eating. I served it with roasted fennel, but was not too impressed with preparing it that way. My Oldest tried it, but even he said that it needed "something". I do like fennel and will continue to search for other ways to prepare it. The chicken received "100 thumb's up" which has become the highest compliment in our house.
Here are some other ideas for weeknight dinners:
Jenny at Picky Palate made a Walnut Crusted Tilipia that her family thoroughly enjoyed.
Judy at No Fear Entertaining made a Spatchcocked Chicken... you'll have to visit her blog to find out what that is!
Aggie at Aggie's Kitchen made lemon Pepper Chicken with Artichokes, Mushrooms and Asparagus that sounds like a nice change from the heavy foods of Winter.



Crispy Cashew Chicken
Source: Patsyk

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cashews, chopped (I just pulsed them in the food processor until coarsely chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon aleppo pepper
• 1 teaspoon shallot salt
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts - cut into 1/2 inch slices

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine Cashews through bread crumbs. In a separate dish, lightly beat the eggs. Dip the chicken pieces in the eggs, then completely coat in the cashew mixture.
3. Place each coated piece of chicken on a baking sheet, and bake for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done.