One of the most important dieting tips I can give you is to eat well. Most of us can’t survive on bowls of salad. It gets boring, it’s rarely filling, and it will only lead you to dream about the foods you really want, which, inevitably ends in binging. So as not to feel deprived, I like to come up with recipes that make my favorite foods accessible. Panko-crusted shnitzel is one of my favorites, so I had to come up with a recipe to suit my dietary needs. I’m not suggesting that this recipe is healthy, its fried after all. However, for those who are strictly watching their carbs, this recipe is a good alternative to breading.
In general, if you like to eat gluten free, it’s always a good idea to look up Passover recipes. My mom makes this shnitzel for Pesach (although she dips it into potato starch first) so I figured I’d give it a try. I used both ground and chopped walnuts to crust the chicken. The ground nuts turned out similar to a bread crumb coating, while the chopped nuts turned out a bit more crunchy. Overall, this turned out to be a great alternative to the traditional. Serve with a side of baked vegetable fries such as kohlrabi, turnips, celery root or rutabaga.
Nut-Crusted Shnitzel
chopped or ground walnuts (or both!)
1 egg
chicken cutlets, trimmed thin
salt and pepper, to taste
canola oil, fry frying
Method:
Clean chicken and trim of fat. Pat dry and add to a bowl. Prepare a second bowl with an egg, season with salt and pepper. Add nuts to a third bowl. Now that you’ve set up your “dredging station”, you’re ready to start. Heat up a frying pan with oil (you can test to see if it’s ready by putting a drop of the egg into the oil to see if it sizzles) Using tongs, dip chicken into egg, and then nuts. Add to the pan and fry on each side until golden. Remove to paper towels to absorb excess oil.
Brilliant! Just added ingredients to my shopping list :)
That looks so good!
Thanks Elie!
I notice in a lot of your recipes you use tongs. What size tongs do you have? Are 9-inch tongs a good size to buy?
Tongs are not a must but they make a lot of things easier in the kitchen. Especially when you are dredging and frying fish or chicken. For that, I like to use smaller tongs, about 7″ long. For other things like mixing and serving pasta, I use larger tongs, about 10″ long.
Thanks!Btw, I LOVE the blog, and have learned so many new things from you.
Thanks for great recipes. I used to make something very similar, or maybe not quiet. I would shmear a VERY thin layer of low-fat mayo all over the cutlets, or tenders. Then I would dredge them in ground/chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans) and bake. Do you think I can use my recipe for one of the dinners in Phase 1?
Yes, I think that would work.
Can I bake this? What temp and how long?
Sure! Place the chicken on a well greased baking sheet. Spray the top with oil and bake at 400 degrees until golden and crispy, about 20 minutes.
Would this taste good after being refrigerated overnight? Can i serve this a day later?
It would be ok, but of course better fresh.