Baked chicken with coconut sauce

I eat a lot of chicken. It's fairly healthy, versatile, and generally cheap. I wanted to do something with the coconut milk I've had in my cabinet for far too long, so I searched online and found a recipe. The original recipe left a lot of things out - like what kind of vinegar to use in the marinade. Plus, the steps were rather mixed up. Here's my adapted version.

The finished product!

I used nearly 2 pounds of chicken breast tenderloins. You can use regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts, too. Just cut them into 1-2 inch strips.

The chicken with the olive oil/vinegar bath

Mix the olive oil, vinegar, garlic salt, cumin and black pepper in a bowl. Add chicken and coat thoroughly.

I did not mix the olive oil/vinegar and spices first. You should, though.

Let marinade overnight. If you're short on time, let the chicken marinade for at least an hour.

Arrange chicken in a small pan and put the marinade in the pan, as well. My marinade ended up solidifying in the fridge overnight, so it was little mounds of sauce here and there. It'll all melt in the toaster oven.


Sprinkle 1 package of Sazon Goya (con azafran) evenly over the chicken. If you don't have that on hand (I didn't), I have a recipe below for an alternative spice blend.

With the spice blend, ready for the toaster oven

Set the toaster oven on bake and to 350ºF. Set the pan, with chicken, into the toaster oven and then turn it on. Set the timer for about 25 minutes.

All baked, ready for the sauce!

Near the end of the bake time, mix the flour and coconut milk together. Once the chicken is finished baking, pour the coconut milk mixture over the chicken. Set the toaster oven to "warm" and set the timer for another 15 minutes. This gives the coconut milk time to heat through and thicken slightly.

Back in the toaster oven!

The original recipe also calls to saute diced red bell pepper, chopped white onion, and garlic cloves. I omitted them this time, but I can see how they would add to this dish.

That is some smooth, tasty chicken. Mmm.

Recipe:

Baked chicken with coconut sauce

2 pounds chicken breast/chicken breast tenderloins
4 T olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cumin
black pepper to taste
3/4 c finely chopped white onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 package Sazon Goya seasoning (con azafran)*
14 oz can coconut milk
1 T flour

1. Mix together olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic salt, cumin, and black pepper. Add chicken breasts and toss to coat. Marinate at least 1 hour, but preferably overnight.

2. If using, saute onion, garlic, and red bell pepper.

3. Mix in Sazon seasoning. If not using additional vegetables, sprinkle seasoning mix evenly over chicken.

4. Set the toaster oven on bake and to 350ºF. Set the pan, with chicken, into the toaster oven and then turn it on. Set the timer for about 25 minutes.

5. Whisk/mix flour and coconut milk together. Pour over chicken after it finishes baking.

6. Set toaster oven to "warm" and allow chicken and sauce to simmer for 15 minutes.

7. Serve with rice. Pour the coconut sauce over the rice to bring the dish together.

*Spice blend to replace sazon: poultry seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, paprika. Add to taste - about 1-2 tsp per spice.

	Nutrition information: Serves 6    Calories: 342.6 Total Fat: 21.0 g Cholesterol: 93.6 mg Sodium: 100.9 mg Total Carbs: 0.0 g Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g Protein: 35.6 g  analyzed using SparkPeople calculator

 

Honey Garlic Chicken

Here's another tasty crock pot meal for you.

I'm using the original poster's pictures, though. Mine ended up overcooking, so it doesn't look very good, plus it has a bit of a burnt taste to it. Despite all of that, I can tell it would be delicious if it hadn't overcooked. Hopefully this post will help you learn from my mistakes.

First, I used chicken breasts instead of thighs. All well and good, except the sauce didn't quite cover everything. Another factor in the overcooking was that I used the crock pot to cook the chicken. The mistake there was letting the chicken cook completely before adding the sauce. If you're going to use the crock pot to cook the chicken, only slightly cook it before adding the sauce. 

I also thought I would be fine changing the setting from "high for 4 hours" to "low for 8 hours," which would have been fine if I had cooked it for only 8 hours. It ended up being 9 or 10 hours. Some crock pots have the ability to automatically turn the pot to "warm" after the allotted time. The one I was using did not. Sigh. Live and learn.

So, there are my mistakes. I'm learning from them. Hopefully you don't repeat them, now.

This really is tasty, even with the "oopsies" I made.

A side note - if you're not strapped for cash and want to make this a little more diabetic friendly, you can substitute imitation honey for the real stuff. I've found there is no taste difference between the two.

This is definitely an indulgence meal - good for a day when your breakfast is light, or you're more active than usual.

Honey Garlic Chicken 

(click the title to open a new window to the original recipe)

Photo from All Recipes - showing chicken thighs.

Adapted recipe

Ingredients:

½  lb chicken breasts 1/3 cup honey 1/3 cup and lite soy sauce 2  tablespoons ketchup 1 ¼ cloves garlic, crushed (or just over 1/8 tsp garlic powder)

1 ¾  teaspoons minced fresh ginger root (or just over 1/8 tsp ground ginger) Most of a 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits, drained with juice reserved 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 ½  tablespoons  water

Directions:

1.	Place chicken breasts in slow cooker on low to cook while preparing sauce (step 2)
2.	In a bowl, mix honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger, and reserved pineapple juice. Pour into the slow cooker.
3.	Cover, and cook 4 hours on High or 8 hours on low. Stir in pineapple tidbits just before serving.
4.	Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Remove chicken breasts from slow cooker. Blend the cornstarch mixture into remaining sauce in the slow cooker to thicken. Serve sauce over the chicken.

	Nutrition Information: Serves: 6 Calories: 555.3 Total Fat: 23.6 g Cholesterol:  46.7 mg Sodium: 1129.5 mg Total Carbs: 69 g Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g Protein: 19.7 g Analyzed by SparkPeople calculator

Copycat recipe - Bang Bang Shrimp ®

I don't know how many of you have been to the Bonefish Grill® restaurant, but they have an appetizer called Bang Bang Shrimp®. It's slightly sweet, and definitely spicy. But not the kind of spicy that makes smoke come out of your ears.

I found a copycat recipe online and just had to try it! I tweaked it a little bit. I decided to "faux fry" my shrimp - or oven fry them, as some say. I also used Splenda® instead of regular sugar. I doubled the amount called for, but I don't think that was enough even then.

It's a pretty straight-forward recipe. Here it is broken down by step.

 
I mixed up the breading mixture.

Nothing too exciting here...

Then I peeled all of my shrimp. I went with jumbo shrimp, rather than medium, for the simple fact that those were the ones on sale. These were also "e-z peel," so they were already cleaned (BONUS!!).

Pre-peeled shrimp

Next I mixed up the egg wash.

I'm pretty sure I could have made this into a custard
 if I'd tried hard enough.

This is a triple-dipper. Into the breading, then the egg, then back to the breading.

After a while, I just started shaking the bowl.
Worked pretty well, I must say.

Surprisingly, I didn't have much breading left over. Usually I have a ton.

I used my toaster oven pan which is smaller than a regular pan. They almost didn't all fit.

Off you go now. Time to become delicious food!

The original recipe calls for refrigerating the battered shrimp for 20 minutes. This is meant for when you're deep-frying, so the batter doesn't fall off. I went ahead and refrigerated them anyway, because I needed to do a few things.

I heated up the toaster oven to 350°. While that was heating up, I mixed up the sauce. I thought I had rice vinegar, but I didn't. I used red wine vinegar instead. It definitely changed the color and may have changed the taste slightly. Still tastes pretty good, though.

Neon orange! I may use less Sriracha® sauce next time.
Whew!

I popped the shrimp into the toaster oven. I cooked them for 10 minutes on one side, flipped them and cooked them for another 15 minutes.

Note to self: the batter does not get "golden brown" in the toaster oven.
I'm thinking I should use less batter next time, too.

Right before you're ready to serve these, gently toss or stir the shrimp in the sauce.

Oh so tasty!

Enjoy!


The full recipe is from here (copied below):

http://fakeginger.com/2011/10/02/bang-bang-shrimp/

Ingredients

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

For the sauce:

½ cup mayonnaise

4-5 teaspoons chili garlic sauce, such as Sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

For the egg mixture:

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk

For the breading mixture:

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup panko breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon dried basil

For frying:

8 to 12 cups vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl; cover and set aside.
2. Combine beaten egg with milk in shallow bowl; set aside.
3. Combine flour, panko, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil in another shallow bowl; set aside.
4. Bread the shrimp by first coating each with the breading mixture. Dip breaded shrimp into the egg and milk mixture, and then back into the breading. Arrange the coated shrimp on a plate and pop them into the fridge for at least 20 minutes. This step will help the breading to stick on the shrimp when they are frying.
5. Heat oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Use amount of oil required by your fryer.
6. When oil is hot, fry shrimp 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on rack or paper towels.
7. When all shrimp has been fried, drop the shrimp into a large bowl. Spoon about ¼ cup of sauce over shrimp and stir gently to coat.

	Nutrition Information: Serves: 10, as an appetizer Calories: 427.3 Total Fat: 22.4 g Cholesterol:  129.2 mg Sodium: 1324.7 mg Total Carbs: 42.7 g Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g Protein: 17.4 g Analyzed by SparkPeople calculator