Cashew and Parsley-Crumbed Chicken With Mustard Vinaigrette

bluemoon downunder's Note:

A tasty chicken dish with easy-to-prepare salad greens, cherry tomatoes and red capsicums (or red bell peppers). Rocket, mesculun or baby spinach leaves are ideal greens. I always opt for baby spinach leaves. This recipe is from The Australian Women's Weekly's 'fresh food fast: delicious no-fuss healthy recipes'.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 3/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews
• 3/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup stale breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• 4 chicken breast fillets, skinless
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 250 g rocket, trimmed
• 250 g yellow grape tomatoes or 250 g red grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 medium red capsicum (also known as red bell pepper)

MUSTARD VINAIGRETTE

• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons coarse grain mustard

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced/325°F/3 gas mark.
2. Blend or process the nuts until they resemble a coarse meal; combine them in a medium, shallow bowl with the parsley and breadcrumbs; beat the eggs lightly in another medium shallow bowl and place the flour in another shallow bowl.
3. Halve the chicken pieces diagonally and slice though each piece horizontally; coat the chicken pieces in the flour and shake away any excess; dip each chicken piece in egg then in the breadcrumb mixture.
4. Heat the oil in a large pan, preferably non-stick; cook the chicken in batches until it has browned on both sides; place the chicken on an oiled oven tray; cook in the oven, uncovered, for about ten minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
5. The Mustard Vinaigrette: make the mustard vinaigrette by combining all the ingredients in a screw top jar and shaking it well; combine the vinaigrette with the rocket, tomato halves and capsicum slices in a large bowl; toss the salad gently then serve it with the chicken.

Reviews

[LifeIsGood]

Originally rated on 1/23/09 - This recipe made it into my book#266453. I'd give this 10 stars if I could. This is sooooo tasty, easy and healthy. I followed the directions exactly and it produced perfect results. The cashew flavor really comes through and adds such a lovely crisp exterior to the chicken. Browning the chicken really seals in the moistness. The mustard vinaigrette is full of flavor, yet not overpowering. I just can't tell you how much I loved this for dinner tonight. I'm already craving more. Notes: I used salted cashews because I couldn't find the unsalted. I used 2 heel slices of 100 % whole wheat bread to make the bread crumbs. Also, I ended up using romaine lettuce instead of rocket or spinach (sadly, my family won't eat spinach). Quality recipe!!!

[Dr. Jenny]

DH and I made this last night for dinner and thought it was fantastic, as well as easy. The chicken had really nice flavor and came out moist. I especially loved the vinaigrette dressing. It had a nice tang to it. We used rocket for the salad, which we love. Thanks for posting---we will definitely make this again.

[wicked cook 46]

This is just the bee's knees. I did a few changes . I didn't have cashews so used Macadamias ( found out after it was cooking that I did have cashews LOL) I don't care for rocket so used romaine. I used kiwi,oranges, cashews, red onion and cucumbers in the salad. I found the dressing a little mustardy for me so added some honey YUM. I served the chicken beside the salad with a mango.kiwi and red onion and lime juice mix on top the chicken. Made for ZWT 5 for the Aus/ NZ region for team Zaar Chow Hounds