One of the biggest complaints I hear about eating Paleo is that the recipes are too time consuming, too difficult, or take too many off-the-wall ingredients. And sometimes this can be true, I realize. But I think a great life lesson in the Paleo lifestyle and in life in general should be…. SIMPLIFY!!
What if there was a way to make eating Paleo even easier. What if there was a way to take away the complexity of it all. Well there is! My friend Cindy from PaleoDish had the ingenious idea of simplifying whole food eating. In her new book, Paleo Takes 5 or Fewer, Cindy makes colorful flavorful dishes without making them too complicated.
My favorite recipe so far is these Bacon Crusted Chicken Strips. It’s really no secret that finger foods make people happy – big kids, little kids, and perpetual kids alike! And by the way…BACON! If that wasn’t enough to get you going, we need to chat! You won’t find refined white flour or nasty cooking oils with these chicken strips. Just whole food ingredients, and only a handful of them! Now that you have one less excuse preventing you from eating clean… Grab a copy of Paleo Takes 5 or Fewer here!!!!
And check out the recipe below:
1 lb (454 g) bacon, crumbled
1 cup (90 g) almond flour
1 tsp smoked paprika
1⁄2 tsp sea salt
1⁄2 tsp ground pepper
2 (11⁄2 lbs [680 g]) chicken breasts, flattened and sliced into strips
2 eggs whisked
Makes 2 – 4 servings
Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C).
Start by lining a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange bacon strips by laying them out flat on the sheet. Put in oven and bake for 20 minutes or until bacon is crispy. Reserve the fat.
Using tongs, remove the slices of bacon from pan and set aside on a plate to cool. Once slightly cooled, put bacon slices into a small food processor and pulse until you reach a granular consistency. Pour ground bacon into a separate glass bowl and add in almond flour and desired spices to create the complete “crust” mixture.
Meanwhile, cover chicken breast in plastic wrap and flatten using a metal meat mallet. Cut them into 1 inch (21⁄2 cm) strips. Whisk eggs in a small glass bowl. In a large cast-iron skillet, add in some leftover bacon fat and heat on medium to high. Take each chicken strip and dip gently in egg wash and then roll in the “crust” mixture to coat evenly while pressing it in and covering with your hands. When cooking oil is hot, arrange “breaded” strips in the frying pan and cook for about 3 minutes or so on each side. Using tongs, flip when side looks crispy and repeat on other side. Do not turn too early, be patient. Keep a close eye, as you do not want to overcook! When cooked, allow them to cool and continue crisping on wire rack.
[…] Lunch – Bacon Crusted Chicken Strips […]