Healthy Chicken Strips

Poultry is considered a healthy protein choice provided:

– you avoid eating the skin (full of fat & calories)
– it’s not deep fried (roasted, barbequed, pan fried, baked or stewed are healthier ways to prepare poultry)
– it’s organic and/or free-from hormones & antibiotics

Health benefits of poultry:
– high quality protein source: it has a good balance of amino acids, which means it provides your body with energy for a long period of time. This makes it a good choice for weight maintenance or weight loss
– 1 small chicken breast or 1 serving (4 ounces) gives you about 35g of protein
– high in vitamin B2, which is good for the health of your brain

One of my husband’s favourite foods is chicken. He’s usually happy with a roast chicken once a week, but sometimes he craves chicken nuggets or strips, and will treat himself to McDonald’s ‘nuggers’ (as he calls them) and the frozen pub style chicken strips. Both of these are not great options for a number of reasons:

– low quality chicken is used, and is filled with water to increase the weight & size of the food, but bring the cost down
– nuggets & strips are breaded & deep fried, which means high in refined carbs, saturated fat and trans fats
– high in sodium
– high in calories
– I could go on…

If you have a carnivore in your family that craves nasty nuggers or saturated strips; here’s a recipe for healthy chicken strips that is a good alternative and will hopefully satisfy the craving.

Healthy Chicken Strips 

Ingredients
2 organic and/or free-from boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut into strips)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or buttermilk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (fresh or pre-grated)
1 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut your chicken breasts into strips.

Combine the Dijon and Mayo in a shallow bowl, and pour the parmesan cheese & cayenne onto a plate.

Dredge the strips in the mustard/mayo mix, than in the parmesan cheese and place them on a cookie sheet.

Once they are all coated, bake for 7 minutes, take them out & flip, bake for another 8 minutes.

Enjoy!