Baked Chicken Fingers, better than bar food!

Neil and I have an unrequited love of bar food. It’s warm, carby-goodness is impossible to resist on a night of tap beer and good friends. It’s pure comfort food. However, in the attempt to not make more work for ourselves at the gym and save money for all the fun things we want to do this year, we’ve staved off a lot of our pub trips and opt instead once and a while to make our favorites at home.

Since we very rarely buy meat, it was already a few months ago that we experimented in making our own Asian Spicy Wings. This time, we wanted to healthfully replicate another one of our favorites, chicken fingers, without the heavy breading and frying. These are lightly breaded and simply baked with just enough oil to keep the light bread crumb topping in place. In my opinion they taste worlds better. Instead of all the heavy tasteless breading, you get a lighter texture and the bold taste of the oregano.

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp. (30 mL) vegetable oil
• 1 cup (250 mL) bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp. (15 mL) grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp. (5 mL) crumbled dried oregano
• 1 tsp. chipotle chili powder *optional if you want a spicy kick*
• 1/2 tsp. (2 mL) salt
• 1/4 tsp. (1 mL) black pepper

Directions:

1. Start by preheating the oven to 400°F. If you’re not using a non-stick baking sheet, spray what you’re using with a non-stick vegetable spray.

2. Cut each of the chicken breasts into long strips, creating “fingers.”

3. Place chicken in a bowl and add oil coat breasts thoroughly.

4. In a separate bowl, stir together bread crumbs, Parmesan, oregano, and salt and pepper.

5. Add bread crumb mixture to chicken and mix to coat thoroughly. Don’t be afraid to use your hands. If you want to be cleaner, transfer chicken and bread mixture to a Ziploc bag and shake to coat thoroughly. Arrange on your baking sheet.

6. Bake for 10 minutes, turn, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Cook until they are nicely browned and cooked through. Feel free to use the broiler for a few minutes to get an extra crisp on the top!

Serve with dipping sauce of your choice (I prefer honey-honey mustard) and enjoy!