CRISPY CHICKEN SCHNITZEL

I have vivid memories of helping my mother in the kitchen when she made chicken schnitzel every few weeks. She would act like she greatly required my help and that my assistance in dipping the chicken into the egg and then covering the chicken with breadcrumbs was fundamental in the process. I now know that she could have completed this cooking step in the half the time that it took me to do it, however I felt extremely needed at the time. I decided to make schnitzel the other night, but did not call my mother for her recipe, wanting to produce something all my own, without any guidance. The herbs and parmesan tasted delicious together and the sauce is a great idea for anyone who does not want to use much oil in the frying process. That said, I don’t think it tasted as good as my dear mothers…..stay tuned for her epic chicken schnitzel!

 INGREDIENTS

• 500g chicken breast 
• Glad wrap (cling wrap)
• A metal or rubber mallet
• 1 cup breadcrumbs (can use gluten-free breadcrumbs or blender 2-3 slices of gluten-free bread to make crumbs)
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese 
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme 
• a handful of cashew nuts, roughly chopped 
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced 
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard 
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar 

COOKING 

1. Make the sauce for the chicken by combining the garlic, lime juice, mustard and white vinegar in a screw top jar and shaking well. Set aside. 

2. Cover the chicken pieces with glad wrap and use a mallet to pound the chicken until it is a 1cm or so thick. Combine the breadcrumbs, parmesan, herbs and cashew nuts in a medium bowl. 

3. In another medium bowl, beat the egg whites slightly. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg mixture to coat entirely and then into the crumb & herb mixture, pressing the crumbs down until the chicken is completely coated. Repeat until all chicken pieces are covered with egg whites and crumb mixture. 

4. Heat a large frying pan on medium heat and add olive oil, swirling to coat. Add the chicken pieces and cook for around 4-5 minutes each side or until both sides are golden and no pink flesh of the chicken remains (to check this, you may need to cut apart the biggest piece of chicken). Transfer chicken on a plate when cooked and drizzle the sauce over the top or on the side. 

NB- I served this chicken with a salad of red kidney beans, tomato, cheese, beetroot and 1 avocado. The recipe is below. 

Super Quick Side Salad 

• 1 x 400g tin red kidney beans, rinsed & drained 
• 1 tomato, sliced into thin wedges
• 1 ripe avocado, diced into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon reduced fat grated cheese
• 2 tablespoons diced beetroot. 

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve. You can add your own dressing if desired (I found that the chicken had so much flavour that I did not require a dressing). 

x E