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LemonWe always have lemon in our kitchen. It’s so versatile I’ll put it right beside kosher salt and fresh ground pepper as my top go-to flavor enhancers for anything from salads and appetizers, to main dishes and desserts. This time I used it to marinate the chicken tenders. It gives a slight acidity to counter the saltiness of the flour coating and dip. I’m not sure if lemon juice adds to the tenderness, but the chicken pieces were a joy to sink my teeth into. They were very juicy. Yumm!

When Elle posted a baked chicken wing recipe on her site, I craved for these BWW wings. However, as you can see on what we’ve been posting lately, the past week has seen the height of all things unhealthy in our household. I decided to make something less life-threatening . I tried to get the goodness of wings into a healthier package for a guilt-free eating experience by:

(1) using chicken tenders instead of chicken wings;

(2) baking instead of frying in vegetable oil; and

(3) using canola oil instead of butter.

Just to give you some perspective, butter has 62% saturated fatty acids, while canola oil only has 7% [source: On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen], the lowest of all common edible oils. Addendum: According to the nutrition information on the label of the oil I used, it contains 1g of saturated fat per tablespoon. I used half a cup or 8 tablespoons for the recipe and there were leftovers. After baking, some of the oil were left in the pan as well.

Doesn’t that make it a lot more appealing to indulge in these?

I’ll be bold enough to say that they taste better than the BWW wings we cooked before:

 

It has the right amount of spice and a nice blend of garlic flavor, but not too much to keep you from engaging in a conversation (hehe). It’s a fantastic substitute for spicy chicken wings. Better flavor, but less the fat. What more can you ask for?

Give it a try next time you’re in the mood for wings. Here’s the recipe:

Spicy Garlic Chicken Tenders

1.2 lb chicken tenders (approx. 11 pieces)

Marinade:

  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Flour drench:

  • 1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Spicy baking dip:

  • 1/2 cup Frank’s Original Red Hot sauce
  • 1/2 cup (high heat) canola oil
  • 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp garlic salt

Preparation:

1. Make the marinade by pouring the ingredients in a bowl. Toss the chicken tenders in it. Seal with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Allow to marinate for 15 minutes.

2. In a shallow bowl, mix the ingredients for the flour drench.

3. Carefully drench each chicken tender piece and lay flat on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for an hour. Go out, relax.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 400ºF.

5. Mix together all the ingredients for the spicy baking dip, making sure it’s well blended. At first it will look like the oil won’t mix with the rest, but give it a little more stirs and they will all be combined in a thick sauce.

6. Grease a clean baking sheet with cooking spray.

7. Dip each floured chicken tender into the sauce, making sure the whole thing is completely covered in it. Place flat on the greased baking sheet.

8. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes. Turn the chicken tenders. Bake for another 10 minutes. The coating is quite delicate so use a heat-safe spatula to turn them over.

9. Take out of the oven and cover/tent with aluminum foil. Allow to’rest’ for 5 minutes. Serve and enjoy! We ate them with wild/brown rice for dinner. It’s amazing.

Note: You will smell the hot sauce in your kitchen 20 minutes into baking. Oh my goodness!

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