Recipe: Oven-Baked Chicken Fingers with Low Fat Honey Mustard Dip

Oven-Baked Chicken Fingers with Low Fat Honey Mustard Dip
From: the American Institute for Cancer Research

Slimming down a favorite dish is simple. The true challenge is keeping it so good your family won't complain or ignore the new, "improved" version.

With dips and dressings, switching from regular mayonnaise to sour cream or yogurt is obvious. Using their low-fat, rather than the fat-free versions, is not. But this tactic allows enough rich and pleasing texture that people don't suspect you have put them on a diet.

For eye-opening proof, make this honey-mustard dip both ways and compare the taste. While saving four and one-half grams of fat per tablespoon (a generous serving), the fat-free version is predominantly sharp, has a faintly bitter aftertaste and poor texture. The merely skinny one, on the other hand, offers the same harmonious trio of hot, sweet and tangy flavors as the full-fat original, all of them lingering pleasantly, proving once again that nothing beats fat for flavor. But, as this experiment demonstrates, you can get by using far less fat than you think.

Making "fried foods" lower in fat, healthful and tasty may seem tough to do. Switch from frying to baking them and voila. I personally dislike the resulting crust, which seems to me thick and dry. Crispy crunch around a moist center is what makes fried foods irresistible. And, once again, this takes a touch of fat.

To achieve this, use strips of boneless breast crusted with blender-ground oats. Dip the chicken in egg white to help the breading stick. (The yolk is disqualified, as unnecessary fat.) Before popping them into the oven, coat the fingers liberally with cooking spray. (I confess to discovering this trick in a recent issue of Cooking Light magazine.) Baked at 450 degrees, the result is golden, crisp-crusted fingers that are nicely moist inside. You won't think they came from the golden arches, but served immediately, they are yummy. Best of all, you will feel good watching kids of all ages devour them, dip and all.

Canola cooking oil spray
2 tsp. canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1 large egg white
1 large, whole skinless, boneless chicken breast, about 3/4 lb.
1/2 cup honey mustard
2 Tbsp. low-fat yogurt
2 Tbsp. reduced-fat sour cream

Place rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

In medium bowl, whisk together oil, salt, pepper and cayenne. Place oatmeal in blender and process until coarsely ground. Add oatmeal to oil mixture and work in with fingers until oil is well distributed. Transfer mixture to a flat plate. In another bowl, whisk egg white until foamy.

Cut chicken lengthwise into 5 half-inch slips. Dip chicken in egg white, then roll in oat mixture, pressing with fingers to help it adhere. Arrange coated chicken slices on prepared baking sheet. Coat them generously with cooking spray.

Bake until chicken is tender when pierced with a wooden pick and coating is golden and crisp, about 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together mustard, yogurt and sour cream. Place bowl in center of a serving plate. Arrange chicken fingers around the dip and serve.

Per serving: 328 calories, 12 g. total fat (2 g. saturated fat), 30 g. carbohydrate, 26 g. protein, 2 g. dietary fiber, 460 mg. sodium.