Picnic From Home: Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken and All the Fixings

So I set out to make a healthier more gourmet version on chicken and waffle, but after TRX, it's pretty impossible to not devour the food in front of me. With a little restraint I took some photos of this, most amazing oven fried chicken recipe! It's got the crunch and juiciness of any fried chicken, minus the grease and uneasiness after consumption!

I've been told that it's comparable (dare I say!?!) to the beloved fried chicken sandwich fro Bakesale Betty in Temescal! I mean that place ONLY sells fried chicken sandwiches...and makes a killing doing it!

So how did I great something similar at home?? What was the secret?

Seasoning...a really amazing and authentic Cajun seasoning (yup, straight from NOLA!)

I used those low car 100-calorie wheat "buns". Let's just say that they are great for veggie burgers and the likes of a more "soft" sandwich, so to speak. The crispiness of the chicken outshines the bun, which was really useless...damn! Should have gone FULL CARB for this one! Especially, since this is a slimmed down version of a fried chicken sando. Lesson learned.

The kale salad really went well and "wet" the wheat buns a little, but I think an aioli of sorts would have made this sando just out of this world.

The potato salad was spot on! After a few tweaks and attempts at this recipe I've been grappling for a bit now, I found that less is really more in a great potato salad. When you can taste and see the ingredients.. and well that's when you know you've hit the nail on the head and actually made something beyond palatable.

Oven Fried Chicken Sandwich Topped with Kale Slaw and Side Potato Salad

Ingredients:
For Oven Fried Chicken:

• 2-3 chicken breasts, cut in half so they become chicken tenders
• 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs, seasoned with Cajun seasoning 
• 3/4 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1/4cup milk
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 Tbl Cajun seasoning
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1-2 tsp of your favorite hot sauce
• Olive oil

For Kale Slaw:

• 1 bunch of lactino or dinosaur kale, stems removed and leaves thinly sliced (not torn!)
• 3 Tbl olive oil
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Juice of one lemon
• Black pepper
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Handful of Parmesan cheese (optional)

For Potato Salad

• 1 lb. of fingerling or red potatoes, cubed or halved if they are a bit big
• 3/4 cup mayo (low-fat is fine!)
• 1 Tbl Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbl agave 
• Lots of pepper
• Chives, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2-3 hard boiled eggs, chopped (optional) 

Directions for Salads:
 1. Rinse kale and "peel" leave off the the stem. Kale easily pulls apart from the middle stem, so this should be quick.
2. Gather your kale leaves and became slicing them thinly, or julienne them. Place in a bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk fresh lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, pepper and red pepper until well combined.
4. Pour dressing over kale leaves and "massage" them from about 1-2 mins. The olive oil will soften and make the leaves more palatable, allowing for the flavors to absorbed in the leaves.
5. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and store in the fridge for at least 5 minutes before serving, this allows for the flavors to marinate. Make this salad hours or even a day ahead for an even more delicious kale slaw!
6. For potato salad: half potatoes and place in a pot full of water and bring to a boil. DO NOT add potatoes to already boiling water, talk about dangerous!
7. Once potatoes have boiled for 10-15 mins, remove from stove, drain and let them cool.
8. To make the dressing, combine 3/4 cup of mayo, 1 Tbl Dijon mustard and 1 Tbl agave in a small bowl.
9. Add liberal amounts of pepper and more agave (if necessary), if the dressing is tasty a little too tangy from the mustard
10. As potatoes have slightly cooled (but not all the way as the dressing might not "stick" to the potatoes if they are totally cool!), cut potatoes into chunks and place in tupperware.
11. Add in dressing and toss well. Do not worry if you mash some of the potatoes, that's a pretty normal thing to happen to potato salad!
12. Add in red pepper and handful of chopped chives (love that mild onion flavor...) and mix well. Store in the fridge for a least 20-30 minutes before serving. Again, this salad also tastes better, days after!

Directions for Chicken Sando:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice chicken breast in half to make about 6-7 tenders.
2. In mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, Cajun seasoning, pepper, garlic salt, paprika and hot sauce well. Set aside.

3. In one plate, mix flour salt and pepper.
4. In another plate, mix Panko bread crumbs, a punch of Cajun seasoning and olive oil.

5. Dip chicken tenders in flour, dusting off any excess flour. Then dip in egg mixture, then into Panko. Lay on a non-stick cookie sheet lined with parchment (or a Silpat like mine!)
6. Bake until chicken is fully cooked and Panko slightly golden brown on the outside, this takes about 30-35 minutes.
7. Assemble your sandwich with all your favorite fixings! Tastes great, reheated on a salad, for next day's lunch!