Crispy Chicken Tenders

Ingredients:

For the Chicken

1.   1 cup buttermilk (I’ve read half milk and half yogurt works in place of buttermilk)

2.   1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

3.   1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

4.   1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

5.   2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, pounded to even thickness, cut into strips

6.   2 cups whole wheat breadcrumbs

7.   Olive oil, for drizzling

For the Dressing

1. 1/3 cup buttermilk

2. 3 tablespoons 2% Greek yogurt

3. 1 tablespoons chives, minced

4. 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions 1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a wire rack. Combine buttermilk, mustard, salt, and cayenne in a nonreactive dish. Dip chicken in mixture and transfer to dish with breadcrumbs, pressing to coat. Transfer to baking sheet. Drizzle with oil. Bake until golden and chicken is cooked through, about 16 minutes. Season with salt.

2. Meanwhile, combine buttermilk, yogurt, chives, and salt in a bowl for dressing. (Add 1 Tbsp. crumbled blue cheese, if desired.)

3. Serve chicken with dressing, celery, romaine hearts, and hot sauce.

Valentine Sweets that WONT Go To Your Hips!

Mmmmmmmmmmm – Raw Brownies!

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup pecans (you can use walnuts in a pinch, but pecans are much better!)

2. 1 cup dates

3. 5 tablespoons raw cacao (cocoa) powder

4. 4 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut

5. 2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

6. 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions: 1. Place pecans alone in your food processor and process until the pecans become small and crumbly.

2. Add dates to the raw brownie recipe and process again until the mixture sticks together and the dates are well processed.

3. Add the remaining ingredients to this raw brownie recipe and process again until the mixture turns a lovely dark chocolatey brown. Stop processing before it gets too buttery. (There should still be air between the small bits so that you will be able to press them down into your brownie pan.)

4. Dump the mixture into a brownie dish or small cake pan and press down firmly using your clean hands.

5. Refrigerate this raw brownie recipe for a couple of hours. You do not have to refrigerate it, but it is much easier to slice when chilled. By the way, this is actually a raw brownie recipe that keeps its shape!

6. Store this raw brownie recipe in the refrigerator if it lasts that long!

DON’T FORGET THE ICING!

It’s a great raw vegan icing for cakes, brownies and the like! Iced cakes or brownies should be kept in the refrigerator. Ingredients:

1. 1 cup dates

2. 1/4 cup raw cacao (cocoa) powder

3. 1/4 cup  coconut oil

4. 3/4 cup water (or a tiny bit more if needed – try to keep at 3/4 cup or so though)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender. If possible, let them sit in there for a few minutes to soften the dates a little bit.

2. Blend all ingredients in your high-speed blender. The ingredients can be a little finicky to blend, so start at a slow speed and increase speed slowly.

3. Keep blending for a very long time to get a velvety consistency. This is one of those recipes that really makes use of the power of a high-speed blender. If you feel that the blades are just spinning but aren’t actually moving all of the icing around, turn the blender off and make an air pocket down the side of the blender with a spatula to expose the blades. Remove the spatula, replace the lid, and start blending slowly again.

4. You’ll know it’s ready if there are no bits of dates and all you can taste is velvety chocolate goodness.

5. This raw chocolate icing is ready to use as soon as you pour it out of the blender.

Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 red onion, quartered

2. 2 celery stalks, chopped

3. 1 cup mushrooms, such as cremini or white button

4. 1 cup spinach leaves

5. 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

6. 1/2 cup chunky salsa

7. 1/4 cup rolled oats

8. 2 egg whites

9. 1/2 teaspoon salt

10. 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

11. 1 tablespoon corn oil

12. 2 whole wheat pitas, halved and warmed

Directions:

1. Place the garlic in a food processor, and pulse until chopped. Add the onion, celery, mushrooms, spinach, beans, and salsa, and pulse until a chunky mixture forms, 2 to 3 pulses.

2. Add the oats, egg whites, salt, and pepper, pulsing once or twice, until mixed.Form the mixture into 4 equal patties.

3. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the patties, and cook 4 to 5 minutes per side, until the burgers are lightly browned and warmed through.

4. Slide each burger into a half pita. ENJOY!!