Pecan-Crusted Chicken

Brain Healthy Ingredients: Chicken, Nuts

Serves: 4

Adding pecans to the bread crumb coating adds a flavor boost and makes this recipe super brain healthy.

You can use any kind of plain yogurt for this, whether it’s full-fat, low-fat, or non-fat. All will work well for the recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 to 8 oz. each
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 cups pecans, finely chopped
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• olive oil for sautéing

Preparation

1. Use a mallet to pound chicken breasts into a uniform 1/2 inch thickness. Cut each breast into 2 or 3 pieces for manageability.
2. Combine lemon juice, yogurt, mustard, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and set aside. Put chicken pieces in mixture and let sit for about 10 minutes.
3. Combine pecans, crumbs, and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl and set aside.
4. Heat about 1 tablespoon olive oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Wipe excess yogurt off chicken and dredge in pecan mixture. When oil is hot, add chicken pieces to pan and cook about 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown on the outside and cooked through. You may need to do it in batches, in which case you should wipe the pan out between batches and add a bit more oil.
5. Serve immediately.