If you have been following my blog, you will notice that we eat a lot of cauliflower. That is because there are so many interesting ways you can prepare it to make it delicious and taste different. This recipe for Cauliflower Breaded Chicken – tasted almost exactly like breaded chicken, but so much healthier and still good. I cooked this one day during the week and the only difficult thing about it, was the time it took to bake the cauliflower “bread” crumbs.
I started by chopping the cauliflower into chunks and placed them into the food processor until they were the same size as couscous. Then I sprinkled the cauliflower onto the covered baking sheet. The baking sheet is covered with parchment paper because I hate cleaning the baking sheets after I use them. The cauliflower is wet, I found that it was good to sprinkle the cauliflower onto the pan to avoid large clumps forming.
You can see above – Jamie and Dexter waiting patiently for dinner to be ready. There are a lot of nights that I am cooking in the kitchen and these two are sitting in the living room together, Dexter always watching Jamie to make sure he isn’t leaving – and coming into the kitchen periodically to make sure that I am still there and aware of him.
We served this with Jicama Fries – you have to try them!
Ingredients
- 1 medium size head of cauliflower
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup 2% milk (that's what was in the refrigerator)
- 1lb. chicken tenders
- Macademia oil to cook chicken in
Instructions
- For Cauliflower Crumbs:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Chop cauliflower and place in food processor to grate.
- Sprinkle onto baking sheet, do not apply thickly because it needs plenty of room to breathe. (I covered my baking sheet with double-sided parchment paper/foil to avoid having to clean it).
- Bake for 45 minutes, turning the cauliflower every ten minutes, so they don't burn. The cauliflower should lightly brown and dry out, you should see an end volume of about a third of what you started with.
- After 20 minutes add sliced garlic cloves to cauliflower - and sprinkle of salt and pepper.
- For chicken fingers:
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Beat egg and milk together.
- Dip the chicken tenders in the egg wash, then in the cauliflower crumbs. Pat lightly to help the cauliflower stick to the chicken.
- Spray the cauliflower coated chicken with Macademia oil before placing onto the baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes.