And the sauce is a simple two-ingredient mixture (bet you can’t guess what they are…!) for which you probably already have the ingredients in your pantry! They’re perfect for a party or just a casual weeknight dinner. This was the perfect thing to get me back into the healthy cooking game after the birth of my daughter two and half weeks ago. I’m not going to lie- the past few months have been difficult. My pregnancy was hard, and my appetite was completely off the whole time. I hated garlic, spicy foods, shrimp… basically everything great in the world. I went the entire first trimester hating chicken of all things. CHICKEN! This, plus the sheer exhaustion, made cooking much more of a chore than a joy for me. I ate more boxed macaroni and cheese than I care to admit. Pretty inconvenient, considering my job is to cook from scratch and write about what I cook and try to sound excited about it.
So when my mother came over to help with the munchkin the other day, I made us a Whole30 compliant lunch (she did the January Whole30 challenge, which I did last year and LOVED). I was able to get in the zone, make a mess in my kitchen, chop veggies and bread the chicken carefully, and take my time focusing on enjoying cooking for the first time in a long time. It was completely zen and wonderful. And the result was DELICIOUS. I made herb roasted veggies with balsamic reduction to go with the chicken, and I’ll share that recipe with you soon.
This chicken is cooked in a similar way to my oven-fried catfish recipe (another must try, if you haven’t already). Basically, the chicken “fries” in the hot oil on a baking sheet in the oven, and is flipped halfway through baking to ensure golden brown deliciousness on all sides. Using this method is less messy than pan frying or deep frying, and enables you to use less oil (only two tablespoons). I recommend a good rimmed baking sheet for this- I swear by my Nordicware Half Baker’s Sheets. They are thick, so they cook evenly, and they don’t buckle with temperature changes (which can be scary when you are dealing with hot oil!). Nothing ever seems to stick to them, and they are easy to clean. Recipe for Paleo Oven-Fried Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard Sauce below! PS- if you want to take your honey mustard sauce game up a notch, try this homemade honey mustard sauce recipe.
