Spicy Almond-Encrusted Chicken Breast

I love Trader Joe’s.  The perfect example — they sell almond meal. If you are trying to cut back on gluten or white processed flour, this is a fabulous substitute. And, Trader Joe’s has it ground and packaged for convenience.  One way I thought about using this product was on chicken – but how should I spice it up?  I remembered that I had a jar of my spice blend in the fridge. The verdict? Success.  My husband raves about this recipe; he loves it.  I have made it a few times now, and it will become a part of our regular lineup.

Ingredients for Spicy Almond-Encrusted Chicken Breast

2 large chicken breast halves
1/2 cup almond meal
2 teaspoons of Housemade Southwest Seasoning, plus additional cayenne for extra spicy
1/4 cup olive oil

1) Mix the almond meal and spice blend together in  a bowl.

2) Butterfly the chicken breasts to make 4 pieces. Be super careful! You should cut the chicken horizontally on the cutting board but that’s hard to capture in a picture.

3) Dip the chicken in olive oil and dredge in almond mixture to  loosely cover.

4) Place on parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Note:  Whenever I read recommended serving amounts the protein recommendation is a 4 oz serving. Well, who can find a 4 oz chicken breast?  Not me. That’s why I started butterflying them.  When we are extra hungry we eat 2 pieces, but more often than not the half breast serving is plenty.   

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Spicy Almond-Encrusted Chicken Breast

June 23, 2009

Servings: 2-4

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 30 min

Total: 40 min

Difficulty: Easy

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By: Michele Tedrick, NBC-HWC, A-CFHC, Holistic Chef

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 2 teaspoons of Housemade Southwest Seasoning, plus optional extra cayenne for extra spicy
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

• Step 1 1) Mix the almond meal and spice blend together in  a bowl.
• Step 2 2) Butterfly the chicken breasts to make 4 pieces. Be super careful! You should cut the chicken horizontally on the cutting board but that’s hard to capture in a picture.
• Step 3 3) Dip the chicken in olive oil and dredge in almond mixture to  loosely cover.
• Step 4 4) Place on parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Step 5 Note:  Whenever I read recommended serving amounts the protein recommendation is a 4 oz serving. Well, who can find a 4 oz chicken breast?  Not me. That’s why I started butterflying them.  When we are extra hungry we eat 2 pieces, but more often than not the half breast serving is plenty.