My husband loves chicken. Grilled chicken, baked chicken, fried chicken, you name it – he loves it. But it wasn’t until lately that we started really watching our calories, so I’ve been minding every little detail about my cooking. My usual breading? It’s 110 calories per 1/4 cup – that adds up way too fast. So there was something that had to be done. Here have been my new alternatives.
Chopped almonds
This was way too easy of a solution but it was SO yummy. This came to mind as almonds (in moderation) are the most ‘nutritionally dense nut’ – did you know that? You do now!
They are perfect for snacking, adding to salads, etc. because they are a good source of fiber, protein, potassium, calcium, and iron. Oh, and in a whole bag of sliced almonds (3.75 oz), there are 18 calories. Chop them up in a food processor and you’re good to go!! I also added some spinach in the food processor to sneak in some veggies. Shhh 🙂
Rice thins
Okay, I know these sound gross but you’re wrong. They actually are delicious, and my husband didn’t even know that I switched the breading with this one! I felt so sneaky. What I used here were these gluten free, all natural rice thin crackers. They’re better than you would picture. Take the crackers and – you guessed it – blend them in the food processor.
Now you’ve got yourself a wonderful little breading that is all natural, and gluten free. What more could you ask for? The only thing, is that it’s not that low in calories unfortunately.
In the next picture, you’ll see a picture of the finished product (well not quite ‘finished’). It’s baking currently in extra virgin olive oil. Side note.
No breading
Yeah it’s an obvious answer but have you really considered it? Don’t worry there’s still ways to jazz up bare chicken breasts. I’ve been halving the chicken breasts, then slathering on a mixture of cooked spinach and ricotta cheese then rolling them up. It adds enough flavor that you don’t have to bread it, although you can if you really want to.
Add in some rice, steamed veggies, and you’ve got yourself a healthy meal!
Bon apetit 🙂
Hearts,
Ruby
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