Coconut Chicken with Apricot Ginger Vinaigrette

The inspiration for this recipe came from Skinny Taste. After seeing a picture of coconut chicken I decided that I needed to make it asap.

I have a love/hate relationship with coconut. I love it in certain things, & hate it in others. I think it’s a texture issue. Coconut is also very sweet, and since I have to limit my sugar, I only used enough in this recipe to give it flavor without overpowering the recipe. These cutlets come out crunchy & slightly sweet & the warm vinaigrette is a perfect light sauce for them. I served them on top of shredded lettuce with vegetable quinoa pilaf on the side. I definitely recommend these for a summer meal.

Coconut Chicken with Apricot Ginger Vinaigrette

Servings: 4 ● Points Plus: 6

Ingredients for Chicken:

4 thin cut chicken breast cutlets
1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes (in the baking aisle at the grocery store)
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup egg whites
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
olive oil spray

Directions:

1) Pre-heat oven to 400 degree. Rinse each cutlet & pat dry.

2) Combine the coconut, panko, & spices in a bowl. Place eggs in a second bowl.

3) Either dip the cutlets into the egg whites, or brush egg white onto them, and then coat in the panko mixture. Place each cutlet on a lined & sprayed baking sheet as you coat them.

4) Spray coated cutlets with olive oil spray & bake about 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through. Keep an eye on them to make sure coconut is not burning. I ended up flipping my every 8 minutes or so.

5) Broil the cutlets for 1-2 minutes when they are finished baking. This will make them extra crunchy right before serving.

*Note: I bake my cutlets on the bottom rack of my oven because this makes them more crispy. If you see that the coconut is browning too fast this way, then move them up to the middle rack. Broil on the top rack.

Ingredients for Vinaigrette:

Servings: 4 ● Points Plus: 2

Ingredients: