Coconut Chicken Fingers

I follow Lisa's Cooking Adventures on her blog .  She recently posted a challenge - She has 25 recipes from Cooking Light and was looking for people to pick a recipe, make it and give her a review.  I took a look at the recipes and decided on the Coconut Chicken Fingers.  I thought it was easy and something the kids would like.  I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised considering this is a 'light' recipe.

Here is the review I wrote up for Lisa's Blog:

I was excited to see a recipe for Coconut Chicken Fingers as part Lisa's Cooking Adventure's Challenge. I figured it was an easy dish that my kids would like. I have to say I was a little worried that the coconut would burn too fast - but that wasn't the case. I followed the recipe using Perdue Chicken Tenders, I omitted the red pepper since I was serving it to the kids and I used plain flour instead of rice flour. It was a BIG hit. We had them for lunch served with Kikkomann's Plum Sauce. If I wasn't serving them to the kids I would have added a little red pepper since I do think it needed that extra 'punch'. However - this was a very simple recipe to make and it got thumbs up from the family!


And not a moment longer...the recipe:

• 4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 inch-thick strips (I used Perdue Chicken Strips - saved a lot of time!)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper (omitted since I was feeding the kids)
• 1 cup rice flour (I used all purpose flour)
• 1 cup whole buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cup cup unsweetened flaked coconut
• 3 Tbsp. canola oil
• Sweet chili sauce (optional - I used Kikkomann Plum Sauce)

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper
2. Place flour in shallow dish
3. Combine buttermilk and egg in shallow dish, stirring well
4. Place coconut in shallow dish
5. Dredge chicken in flour, shake off excess
6. Dip chicken in egg mixture
7. Dredge in coconut
8. Heat large skillet over medium heat
9. Add oil to pan, swirl to coat
10. Add chicken to pan
11. Cook 6 minutes or until done, turning golden brown
12. Serve with chile sauce, if desired

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