The end of February is an awesome time in Lafayette. The weather straddles the line between crazy cold and blisteringly hot, giving us all a hint of "Spring." Youth soccer games start filling Saturdays with laughter and energy. And people are pumped up for the king cake/festival season in full swing. One more thing is about to get in gear that you should be excited about - GIRL SCOUT COOKIES! Get those checkbooks out ladies and gents cause it's that time again - as an added bonus they’ll be taking credit and debit cards too!! I know my kids and I get super excited to meet up with these sweet little girls (and their sweet treats).
In anticipation of booth sales - which open Friday by the way - I started looking for ways to honor my favorite cookie, the Samoa. Now if you ask most people about coconut they usually have a strong opinion, both for and against, but chances are with the right recipe coconut can be easy on just about any palate. I love it in desserts, cream-based especially, for a little texture and sweetness, but it's great in savory dishes too! Coconut and coconut milk add a nice contrast to really spicy foods - that's why you'll see them in lots of curry recipes. But you can use them in a variety of applications. What about coconut milk instead of buttermilk for fried chicken. It's that idea that got me thinking about using shaved coconut as a breading for a subtly sweet dinner that everyone could enjoy.
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Coconut & panko-crusted chicken
Ingredients
skinless, boneless chicken breasts
equal parts shaved unsweetened coconut & panko bread crumbs
all-purpose flour
egg wash - 1 egg beaten with a few teaspoons of water and salt
salt & pepper
sweet chili glaze - optional
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400º
- Cut chicken breasts into even pieces after trimming all fat, season with salt & pepper
- Dredge in all flour and then egg wash
- Place in coconut and panko mixture and toss to coat, pressing coating into chicken pieces
- Arrange in single layer on baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, flip and return to oven until cooked through - 25 minutes at most
- Season with additional salt before serving
- For a spicy kick drizzle heated sweet chili glaze (or melted pepper jelly) on the top
Serve with chow mein and stir-fried vegetables for a well-rounded, family-friendly meal. End the meal with a Samoa or a sleeve of Thin Mints like my kids do! To find out where you can buy your Girl Scout cookies this year, check out their website at www.gslpg.org/ - click on the Cookie Locator for a listing of booth sales in your area!