It's Saturday night...

what's for dinner.

Everyone is always talking about chicken nuggets, and usually not in a good way.  Would someone explain to me why people buy frozen nuggets made with mechanically separated mystery meat when they are so easy and fast to make from scratch?

I'll be marinating mine for a bit before cooking, but if you're in a hurry, you don't really have to do this.

For two large chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2"  to  2" pieces.

I'm giving you some measurements to be used as guidelines.  I rarely measure when I make marinade and am prone to grab anything that looks good and whip it up in a 4-cup measuring bowl.  Since the chicken is already cut into smaller pieces, it doesn't take long for them to marinate.

Tonight's marinade:

1/4 cup of vegetable oil
2 TB soy sauce
1TB Worcestershire sauce 
2 TB red wine vinegar
1TB lemon juice (bottled stuff ok)
1 tsp dry mustard
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Whisk it all together.  Put the chicken in a plastic bag and pour in the marinade.  Smoosh it around a bit and set it aside while you prepare the coating.

Tonight I'll be using Panko, but you can use regular or seasoned bread crumbs.   

Preheat oven to 375.

Line a cookie sheet with foil and top with a cookie cooling rack that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Now, form a little assembly line with three separate bowls.  First bowl has some flour, second one has an egg or two whipped up with a few tablespoons of water, and the third has the Panko which has been tossed with a few teaspoons of olive oil and a splash of Parmesan cheese.

Plop a chicken chunk in the flour, throw it into the egg, and roll it in the Panko.  Place it gently on the rack and do the next one.  By the time you're finished you will have glorious little balls of glop on the tips of your fingers.  Don't lick them, please.

Cooking times will vary depending on your oven.  Usually 25 minutes is more than enough.  Serve with any dipping sauces you can dream up.  But be careful; some of those dipping sauces have tons of calories.

Now doesn't that sound much better than mechanically separated chicken??

Working Mom Tips

Do as much prep the night before as you can.  Put out the bowls of flour and Panko.  Have the chicken cut up and whip up the egg and put in refrigerator.  Line your cookie sheet and spray your rack (hmmm, spray your cookie cooling rack - not your rack. heh)

This is a fun thing for your kids to help you make.  It shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes to get them in the oven when you get home.