Mostly Winner Chicken Dinner

Here we are on a very damp Rest Day! I would give some thought to if it's going to rain or not, but it just doesn't matter because I'm not running today! I told you, I enjoy days on ... and days off!

In the meantime, it's time to report from the kitchen as we tried another recipe out of Runner's World magazine last night!

Now, I love chicken and am willing to try it almost no matter how it's made. This was appealing because I really love fried chicken, but I hardly ever eat it! Not to mention, if there's a way to make the white meat taste as good as I think dark meat tastes, then I'm game for trying!

Remember how I thought it was a good idea to dink around with the previous recipe (by adding too much chorizo) because I didn't trust the outcome? This time, it seems I decided my key to success was to not read the recipe all the way through before getting it together, so I missed that part about how long the chicken needed to marinade. Whoopsie. I was just in the nick of time to let it soak for an hour, but next time, I'll allow for more time! So, while it soaked, I got the other pieces together ...

These were new to me:

Verdict on these: Totally dig 'em!! I think I've only heard of "Panko" from the Food Network, so I actually had to look it up to see how readily available it was to non-tv people like myself! I know there are whole wheat varieties out there, so now that I'm sold on their basic function (keeping the coating crispier than would regular bread crumbs ... yum!), I'll be looking for those from now on!

The recipe was simple, it just took more time than I was prepared for from marinading to letting the chicken sit in the fridge before baking. Anyway, here's our oven of yum in progress:

Chicken on bottom, sweet potato Mom Fries on top ... mmmmm ...

Verdict? Very, very good!! Very filling for sure, and the chicken was so moist!! I can't wait to try it again with longer soaking time. It was too spicy, though, so I think we're going to eliminate the red pepper and just maintain the hot sauce. All of us had that spicy tongue burn, and after a while, that's annoying! Yes, I measured the spices correctly ... Oh, and I'm also going to cube the chicken next time and make nuggets! Yum!

It's an excellent protein-packed meal, and a recipe to retain. I just need to budget more time for it! But! I wanted to pass it along! Anything good for us that we all also like is a winner to me!