Monday, April 28, 2014

Crusted Cashew Chicken -- Wheat, Grain & Gluten-Free

This evening we are getting ready to be pounded with severe storms, hail and potential tornadoes for the next couple of days with rainfall as much as 5 inches predicted. We tried to remove most of the loose items in the backyard (like the umbrella on our table) that could become missiles if the storm pans out the way they say it will. 

I made a quick and simple meal this evening using a package of chicken cutlets. I made Crusted Cashew Chicken using the cashew meal I picked up a while back at Trader Joe's (they have the best price on cashew meal). Cashews are mild and naturally sweeter tasting than other nuts. I didn't want to over-season my cashew meal but wanted to give it some flavor since it's pretty neutral tasting. I added a little salt, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, cayenne and finally a bit of sweetener to enhance the natural sweetness of the cashews. I topped it with roasted cashews and a bit of finely diced red bell pepper and green onion to add a bit of Asian flair. We enjoyed it. It was simple and delicately flavored. I snapped a few photos and included the recipe below. Enjoy!







Crusted Cashew Chicken

Ingredients:

5 or 6 chicken cutlets (1/4" thick), about 1 pound
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
2 to 3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup cashew meal (ground raw cashews)
1 tablespoon Swerve Sweetener, or preferred granular sweetener
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper
2 sliced green spring onions
1/2 cup roasted cashews

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and set aside.

In a shallow bowl, mix cashew meal, sweetener, salt, cayenne, garlic powder and onion powder. 

Dip each cutlet into egg wash and let excess drip off. Dredge in coating mixture on both sides until evenly coated. Set aside on a platter and repeat with remaining cutlets. 

In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat coconut oil over medium-high heat until hot. Carefully place half of the cutlets in the skillet and cook until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer cooked cutlets to baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining cutlets. Repeat egg wash, dredging and cooking with remaining cutlets. Keep warm in oven up to 15 or 20 minutes. Serve topped with red bell pepper, green onions and cashews.


5 comments:

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

This chicken dish looks lovely! :-)

I saw from the weather report that your area was in for some very severe weather. I hope everything goes OK for you. We're on the "edge" so no tornadoes expected here but we're in for heavy rain, high winds, and perhaps 1" hail in some places. I'm glad we had the roof replaced last summer! *Stay safe and dry!*

Sami said...

Hope you are safe after that awful weather. I just saw on the news yesterday the damage done by some tornadoes in the States. It's very sad how many people were affected.

Great idea to do a crumb with cashews. I have kept the recipe to give it a try soon.

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Thanks, Sami. Actually, that awful weather was west of us and is heading our way. It is supposed to hit late tonight (after 1:00 a.m.) and last for 2 days. They are warning us for tornadoes, hail, floods and I just saw up to 6 inches of rain by Wednesday! I'm sure there will be flooding. I just hope no tornadoes. Hope you enjoy the recipe and thanks for the kind words, too! :-)

Michele said...

Hi GGC,

I just made your crusted cashew chicken and my family really enjoyed it. My only feedback was that I had a lot of breadcrumbs left over. I doubled the crumbs for 2 pounds of pounded chicken and I could have easily done 2 more pounds. So next time I will do 1 cup to 2 pounds of chicken. I also thought a sweet low carb Thai chili sauce or a mango salsa on top would be a nice addition to compliment the coconut tropical taste of the chicken. Thank you so much for this great recipe!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Michelle,

So happy you enjoyed it. It's always so hard trying to gauge exactly how much breading mixture to make because so much of it depends more on the surface area you are breading opposed to the actual weight. At least you have an idea now of the coverage it yields so maybe you can halve the crust coating recipe next time. I'm one of those people that often ends up running short and having one more piece left with no breading...LOL. I usually purchase Perdue's chicken breast cutlets which are sliced quite thin so usually there are quite a few in a 1 pound package.

Great suggestion on the sauce to top it with. Thai chili sauce really sounds awesome to me! I've never had mango salsa before but I bet it would be great to. I'm happy you enjoyed it...thanks so much for letting me know. :-)