Ranch Crusted Chicken

Oh, man! This one is delicious. My whole household loves chicken and sometimes it gets repetitive to eat chicken too often. This is a great way to help get rid of the boring grilled chicken blues. It's a simple recipe and only calls for a few ingredients. The chicken ends up so flavorful, and it's the juiciest chicken I have ever eaten.

What you'll need: 

1 cup mayo (Kraft in our home)
3 tbsp ranch dressing seasoning (Hidden Valley Ranch in our home)
3 chicken breasts, tenderized and cut in 1/2
bread crumbs (crushed up pork rinds in our home)
parchment paper

What you'll do:

In a bowl, mix the mayo and the ranch dressing seasoning together. In a separate container (preferrably with a flat bottom), add your pork rind crumbs. Take your chicken and dip it in the mayo/seasoning mix. Then, once it's coated, dredge it in the pork rinds. Place each piece on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, making sure to cook each piece all the way through. Remove from the oven, let it cool, and enjoy!

It's Comforting

Comfort food is something that everyone wants, at one time or another. The trouble with most comfort food, however, is that it is generally high in carbs, meaning that if you live the low-carb lifestyle, like so many people do, it's off limits to you. The good news is that there are ways to make the comfort foods that you love, and still stay low-carb. All you have to do is modify the recipes a little.

For example, one of my favorite comfort foods is a good basket of onion rings. I love to dip them in a thick ranch dressing. They go great with a burger. The problem with onion rings is that the breading has carbs, and that makes it a no-no. There is a way, however, to make them lower in carbs than usual. The following recipe comes from George Stella. If you don't know who he is, as a low-carber, you absolutely need to find some information about him. Short version, he is an avid low-carber with a show on Food Network. He has lost a tremendous amount of weight, and has great recipes.

Ingredients
3 to 6 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream or water
3 large yellow onions

Breading:
2 1/3 cups soy flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Directions
Place a heavy pot over medium-high heat with at least an inch of vegetable oil. Heat oil to 350 degrees; it is important to monitor and maintain the temperature, or the soy flour breading and your oil will burn. (Portable deep fryers at home are great for this.)
In a medium bowl, mix the eggs and cream to make an egg wash. In a separate larger bowl, mix the breading ingredients together.
Peel and slice the onions in thick slices and carefully separate the rings. Then dip individual onion rings in the breading, then the egg wash, and then back in the breading again, making sure to coat well. Pat off any excess breading and carefully place into hot oil, in batches as necessary, and fry until golden brown and crisp, just 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

Soy flour is made from toasted soybeans and has already been "cooked."
Therefore it has a tendency to brown faster than plain flour when frying.

You can also use this same breading recipe to make other fried foods such as okra and cheese sticks. Oh, and it's also great on deep fried chicken.

Hopefully, you will enjoy these onion rings. I make my ranch dressing at home, so I can keep track of the nutrition facts. It's also better than any other ranch dressing that I have tried before.

The next few posts will be about more comfort foods. If you enjoy comfort foods, come back and visit soon...