Lunch Solutions: The Thinner Happy Meal

I spend all day thinking about food, so office lunchtime is never too early. Bringing my own lunch won't keep me from seeking take-out, unless my healthy alternative can satisfy my comfort food cravings. I make these chicken nuggets for dinner one night, and make a whole lot extra to bring for lunch the rest of the week.

Ingredients

• 2 lb chicken breasts
  
• 2 egg whites
  
• 2 cups panko bread crumbs (whole wheat if avail)
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 3 tsp cajun seasoning
  
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
  
• 1/4 tsp pepper
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 tbsp milk
  
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut up chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Keep them a little thinner so that they can crisp up quickly without drying out the chicken.


Place panko crumbs in a medium bowl. Add cajun seasoning, mustard, salt & pepper and mix together until combined. Taste quickly and adjust any seasoning to taste preferences.


In another bowl add eggs. Add milk and whisk together until completely combined.


Dunk a couple chicken bites into egg mixture then dredge through bread crumb seasoning. Panko crumbs are larger than finer bread crumbs so you may still see a little of the chicken pink showing through. That's fine, just pat on crumbs to coat pieces as best you can.


On a cookie sheet greased with cooking spray, lay out nugget pieces in a single layer, leaving enough space so chicken doesn't touch. For this recipe you will probably need 2 cookie sheets to fit all the nuggets.


Bake for 5 minutes, flip chicken pieces, and return to oven for additional 5 minutes. When using 2 cookie sheets, be sure to alternate which is on top/ bottom to ensure even cooking time. Panko crumbs should start to brown & chicken should be cooked through.