Coconut crusted chicken

Sometimes you feel like having some comfort food. A tasty meal that'll provide you with energy, not just physically, but mentally as well. Sounds like take-out pizza? No.. Comfort food can be healthy, and paleo. There even is a whole cookbook dedicated to paleo comfort food: http://paleocomfortfoods.com/ 

By the way, I own this book and I can recommend it to anyone! There are some really tasty recipes in there.

Last weekend I was visiting my parents, who by the way also eat (mostly) paleo (and I'm so proud of them for doing so!), and my mom served me breaded chicken. Breaded sounds like it's far from paleo, but this version was. She 'breaded' the chicken with coconut flour, desiccated coconut, egg and some spices. Delicious!

What logically followed was me asking her how she did that and asking her for (demanding) the recipe.

I made my own version today. I didn't use any desiccated coconut, not exactly by choice, but because I used too much coconut flour and spices and didn't want to throw that away. So I decided to dip the fillets in there again instead of desiccated coconut. It tasted different from my mom's version, but was really tasty nontheless. If you decide to use desiccated coconut, it'll sweeten the dish, which tastes good by the way. You can get creative with the spices, feel free to add whatever you think would taste good.

Oh and just so you know, it's a lot of fun to flatten a chicken with a frying pan! So helpful to relieve your frustrations.. (make sure you don't damage your pan though, don't smack it onto the chicken too hard!)

Here's my version of coconut crusted chicken:

Coconut crusted chicken (serves 2)

Ingredients:

- 2 chicken breasts (approx. 200g each)

- 1/4 cup coconut flour

- 1 tsp ground paprika

- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- 1 tbsp thyme

- 1/4 tsp ground chili flakes

- freshly ground black pepper

- 1 egg

- 3 tbsp coconut oil

1. Put both chicken breasts next to eachother on a chopping board and cover them with plastic wrap. Make sure the breasts are approx. 2 inches (5cm) apart.

2. Take a heavy skillet of frying pan and carefully slam the chicken with it to flatten. (this doesn't take too much force)

3. Beat the egg and pour onto a plate.

4. Mix the coconut flour with the spices on a plate and cover the chicken with it on all sides.

5. Dip the chicken into the egg and coat on all sides, then dip in coconut mixture again until well covered.

6. Heat the coconut oil in a skillet or frying pan and fry the chicken over medium heat for approx. 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and cooked.

7. Serve immediately and enjoy!