Almond Crusted Chicken

The Feb 2008 Rachael Ray Magazine had a recipe that I saw and instantly ripped out, knowing I had to try it. It had 5 ingredients and was done in 30 minutes. Who can argue with that?

It was a pecan crusted chicken. Well, I didn't see pecans at my grocery store. Hmmm, well, not being a quitter, I picked up a bag of sliced almonds, and haven't looked back. It worked great with the almonds, but I'm sure most any nut (expect maybe peanuts) would be great.

Also, I used the Perdue Perfect Portions chicken breasts. They are like 1/2 breasts, pre-cut and individually sealed. The cooking times for them is on the bag, so I just followed the oven cooking directions on the bag and the chicken came out juicy inside, crispy outside. I will list the printed cooking directions here, but if you use a different cut (like the ones I did) adjust the time accordingly.

Almond-Crusted Chicken (Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray)

1 cup almonds (or another nut), toasted

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp dried basil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup honey mustard (I made my own with about equal parts honey and yellow mustard)

*salt and pepper

olive oil or olive oil cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400°. Using a food processor, grind the almonds into fine crumbs. Transfer to a wide, shallow bowl and stir in the bread crumbs and basil. Season with salt and pepper.

Rub each chicken breast with honey mustard, then coat with the almond mixture. Place on a nonstick baking sheet (I used a regular baking sheet covered in foil) and drizzle with olive oil or spray on the olive oil cooking spray.

Bake until the juices run clear, 15 to 20 minutes.