Oven Fried Chicken and Butterscotch Baby Carrots

Goodness, I am so, so behind on my blog and have so many recipes to post, but today's recipe just pushed all the other ones aside and I had to post it.

We are always looking for quick, simple, delicious and figure-friendly recipes. While many recipes claim to be all those things, more often than not they are off the mark in one area or another. I think the hardest combination is figure-friendly and delicious. Those two just don't seem to go together very often. How surprised was I to find the whole kit and kaboodle in a Paula Dean recipe?! Don't get me wrong, I love Paula Dean. She is one of the most charming and delightful chefs on the Food Network. We watch her all the time, not for her recipes, just for her. Something about the twinkle in her eye when she adds another stick of butter, the way she gets away with the naughtiest things, just the way she does what she does with no apologies. However, when we are trying to lose weight it's pretty hard to justify Deep Fried Mac and Cheese Bacon Bites. Even when Paula is making it she knows it's naughty. (Watch the video.)

Anyway, we were watching her the other day and to our surprise she made a figure-friendly recipe. Maybe it was because he son was on, or maybe she just forgot the butter, but this dinner combination is all the things we were looking for - quick, simple, delicious and figure-friendly. When I made this I thought of all my mom friends that need to whip up dinner along with all their other tasks. Honeys, this is your recipe! It was super easy and so yummy that it made it to out top ten list. It also reheats well, which is always a bonus.

Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 cups Panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons freshly minced thyme leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 -inch thickness

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
3. Place a cooling rack over pan and spray rack with nonstick cooking spray.
4. In a shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, cheese, 2 tablespoons olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste.
5. In a separate shallow dish, combine mustard, water, salt and pepper, to taste, and remaining olive oil.
6. Coat each chicken breast with mustard mixture; dredge each in bread crumb mixture.
7. Place on prepared rack in pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until chicken is golden brown.
8. Serve immediately.

Butterscotch and Black Pepper Baby Carrots
Recipe courtesy The Deen Brothers (Y'all, pg. 37)

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound baby carrots, halved lengthwise
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium skillet, heat the butter, sugar, and salt over medium-high heat, stirring until smooth.
2. Add the carrots and toss to coat.
3. Cover and reduce the heat to medium.
4. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the carrots are tender and glazed.
5. Top with black pepper.
6. Serve hot or warm.

Notes

There are a few things I want to share about this:

First off, after I pounded each chicken breast I cut them in half making eight servings rather than four. This was plenty for us.

My chicken wasn't as browned as I would have liked, but I read a post that said they put it under the broiler for a couple of minutes and I will try that next time.

The best thing, we did NOT miss the carbs in this meal. It is very satisfying.