Comunidad Health Foods

From the time my baby teeth came in to about my thirteenth birthday, my diet consisted of 3 food groups: Apple juice, chicken fingers, and ketchup. Sometimes I would branch out and have some french fries (the closest thing to a vegetable I ate post-preschool years, pre-nutrition), a slice of pizza, mozzarella sticks - but really, it was all about the chicken nuggets dipped in ketchup, downed with a glass (or 5) of apple juice.

There are only two directions to go from such a childhood obsession with one type of food: lifelong appreciation, or never wanting to see that particular food item again, much less eat it. Two guesses as to which category chicken fingers fall into for me, and the first one doesn't count. Yes, it's true, though I hide it well, I have a soft spot for those little breaded and deep fried comminutions of, well...some part of the chicken, anyway - especially if they're shaped like dinosaurs, as Perdue so endearingly offers the American public. Unfortunately, breaded, deep fried mystery meat is no longer one of Floptimism's Main Food Groups, and the opportunities for my taste buds and these American Delicacies are few and far between.

I only have one response when I encounter a food that I love, but either cannot eat or just don't eat very often: "Well, I'll just have to learn to make it myself, my way." So back in 2010, I tried my hand at Chicken Fingers, and was wholly disappointed. The chicken didn't taste bad - in fact, they were pretty darn good - but it wasn't a recipe for chicken fingers. I thought, in that moment, that maybe I couldn't make them myself, my way.

And then I found these. No, they're not called chicken fingers, but if you use sliced breasts or tenders, that is exactly what you get - delicious, complex, savory-with-a-hint-of-sweetness, moist. In a word, amazing. Okay, two words - they're perfect, too. I have, without a doubt, found my chicken finger recipe, one that I can feel good about eating. Just a few tips: (1) use good breadcrumbs, because the flavor of the whole wheat bread I used absolutely came through and without question contributed to what I loved so much about the flavors; (2) don't be shy with the yogurt coating, because I had a lot left over; (3) if you're looking for super crispy, consider skipping the butter added to the top. I think that kind of inhibited the full effect of crispiness that I was hoping for.

So, in my search for My Chicken Finger Recipe, I also lucked out and found a very satisfying, flavorful baked chicken recipe - and now you've lucked out, because I'm going to share them both with you! They're both fairly versatile recipes; I can see them topping a salad, as a stand-alone on a plate with some veggies, skewered with a dip of some kind...just maybe not with pasta, unless we're carbing up for a marathon, which I certainly have no plans of doing in the near future.

Baked-n-Breaded Herb Chicken

Serve with any number of things - I chose Turnip Fries, which could not have been easier. Because this post is already ginormous and full of 2 recipes, I'll just send you to the printable recipe to check out how I made them. Just know that when I made them, I measured nothing and brilliantly thought they would cook at the same temperature as the chicken (turns out that's a big, fat, False). But I still loved them.

Anyone with Diabetes, high triglycerides, or an affinity for Dr. Atkins should just stop reading now. Even I find myself looking back on this indulgently carb-loaded meal and ask myself what I could have been thinking, throwing all of these ingredients together. I actually do remember my thought process and rationale, but I don't think that I would repeat the combination. Would I eat these two dishes again, separately? Absolutely! They were both delicious, different, and decadent - three words I love to hear associated with food. So, if my introduction to this meal did not yet scare you away, I ask you to hear me out for just a little bit longer, because it very well may be worth it.

One of my Everyday with Rachael Ray magazines presented me with a recipe for a Chicken & Pear Panini that I had to try. Chicken, sauteed onions, gooey cheese and sweet pears: it just sounded like an awesome and intriguingly original combination. This sandwich, I do not jest, delivered. The flavors were rich and worked extremely well together, with the pear bringing out the sweetness in the onion, the chicken and cheese playing off of that sweetness with their savory notes, and the chewy, nutty whole grain bread factor really rounding out this panini's arsenal of sensory explosives. There was only one of my five senses that was disappointed in this meal, and that was my sense of sight. Think about it: chicken breast, bread, pears, onions, cheese. Where's the color? The magazine said to pair it with an escarole salad which certainly would have helped, but I would still like to see more color in the actual panini - maybe some spinach? Aside from that, the only other complaint I had was the amount of oil, which I successfully (I think, anyway) halved.

But other than those two things, this is a must-make sandwich - again, if you feel that you can brave the carbohydrate-laden ingredient list (but here's a tip - use whole grain bread and the fiber will help slow those rambunctious sugar molecules down, and then it's really not so bad! Oh, and maybe don't pear it with starchy fries like I did).

Speaking of those fries, even if you don't make them as a side dish for this sandwich, I still have to tell you about them - first of all, because they're included in the picture of this meal and second of all, because they were pretty good. They didn't get as crisp as I would have liked, but keeping them in the oven for a little longer should do the trick. I actually don't know that pears have the ability to become crispy in an oven, but sweet potatoes do, and even they should have had a little longer to cook. You could try roasting them and then broiling them at the end to see if that helps the process any, too. Just some suggestions.