If there is one thing I have been cooking more of during this uncertain time it has been comfort food. More specifically, my childhood favorites. There is something about the nostalgia of a childhood favorite that is so comforting.

When my family took road trips when we were younger, we used to stop at Burger King and I would always get the chicken tenders. They were my absolute favorite. Now that I am older, I wanted to recreate them.

Enter this delicious and healthy version of my childhood favorite. I am so happy I discovered Open Nature® products that are available exclusively in my area at Albertsons and Safeway, especially Almond Flour which is used for the crispy coating on O Organics® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. They are so easy to make and I love to eat them with a crunchy side of carrots or celery, O Organics Kettle Cooked Potato Chips and ranch or buffalo dipping sauce.

Here’s how you can make these paleo chicken tenders come together. I know you will enjoy it as much as I did!

Ingredients:

1 pound O Organics Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 egg
1 cup Open Nature Almond Flour
1 tsp. paprika
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. dried parsley
½ tsp. each salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 

In a small bowl whisk together the egg with 2 tablespoons of water to make the egg wash. In a separate bowl, mix the almond flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, parsley, salt and pepper together.

Cut the chicken into tenders. Place a chicken tender in the egg wash and shake off the excess. Immediately place the chicken tender in the almond flour mixture and coat liberally. Shake off, then place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat for remaining chicken tenders.

Bake at 400 degrees for 16 minutes flipping half way through. After 16 minutes, turn the broiler on high. Broil 4-5 minutes to make the chicken extra crispy. 

While the chicken bakes prepare your veggies for the side, grab a handful of chips and pour your sauce of choice!  

If you are eating more plant-based or gluten-free for health reasons, your local Safeway and Albertsons stores have thousands of products to choose from. I especially love O Organics because they are USDA certified I can find all my favorites at affordable prices and Open Nature makes products with simple ingredients and great quality. In the San Francisco area Open Nature products are available exclusively at Albertson’s and Safeway.

 Try any of these clean, free-from Open Nature products and USDA certified organic O Organics products exclusively at stores and online.

• VISIT www.albertsons.com/exclusivebrands

• VISIT www.safeway.com/exclusivebrands

This is a sponsored blog post in which I received payment for my opinion on all products.

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You know when you have those cooking moments… like dang, I made something really good? That just happened. And trust me, I am not the queen of the kitchen where every recipe turns out perfect every time. Oh no no no. My kitchen is a disaster of pots, pans, spilled ingredients, confusion and sometimes stove fires (I am working on this).  But the food orchestra came together perfectly for these meatballs and sauce, and all ingredients worked in a beautiful mouth-watering unison.

I had recently stocked up on five pounds of walnuts for making nut milk, throwing in salads, as an everyday snack and also for this recipe of basil pesto. I also picked up organic ground turkey decided to throw the basil into the meatball recipe as well. A little ad hoc ingredient combining turned out delicious.

I like to make a big batch of meatballs, cook up half to eat in a few dishes over the next couple of days, and then freeze the second half for an easy mid-week grab. The trick is to freeze them flat on parchment paper first and then store them in a Ziploc or stasher bag. (Yes, I know, the environment, blah blah blah, I am working on that too). I may be a work in progress, but hey, these balls turned out glorious, so do it!!

THE GOODS:

Turkey Basil Meatballs

-       One pound ground turkey (organic and free-range)

-       One handful chopped fresh basil

-       1 egg (I used pasture-raised)

-       1/3 cup of almond flour (can sub oat flour or gf four although I haven’t tried)

-       1/2 teaspoon black pepper

-       1/2 teaspoon salt

-       1/2 teaspoon onion powder

-       1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

-       2-3 garlic cloves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. With wet hands, form meatballs with your hands and place on parchment paper on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. You can also cook in olive oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet like I did (too hot the day I made these to turn on the over, yowza).

Walnut basil-pesto sauce

-       2 cups fresh basil

-       1/4 cup olive oil

-       1/3 cup walnuts (raw almonds or pine nuts would work too)

-       1/2 teaspoon salt

-       1/2 teaspoon black pepper

-       1 – 2 garlic cloves

-       1/2 lemon squeezed

Drop everything into a food processor except for the olive oil.  Turn on and pour the olive oil slowly in to combine all the ingredients.  Scrape down the sides if necessary and pulse again.

WHAT’S IN MY BOWL:

Chopped fresh romaine lettuce, roasted butternut squash, blanched asparagus, half an avocado and the turkey basil meatballs with a scoop of the pesto. 

You could also add the pesto to a bowl of brown rice pasta with the asparagus and meatballs on top.  I did this as well with a new almond flour pasta I found from a brand called Cappello’s that I picked up at Whole Foods.  It was absolutely amazing and did not taste like gluten-free pasta AT ALL.  Promise.