Oven fried chicken or pork

A few years ago I came across a Cooking Light Recipe for Oven Fried Chicken. I've not found the recipe again, but I remembered the basic ingredients and have altered it to make quick and tasty chicken for my family. I use to make whole wheat bread crumbs for this recipe, but have recently switched to the more convenient bread crumbs in a cardboard can :)

So here's the basic idea:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

3/4 cup Plain Bread Crumbs
1/4 cup flour
seasonings to taste - I use garlic powder, salt, and onion powder but have also added grated parmessan, black pepper, parsley, thyme and rosemary for additional flavor. My family prefers the garlic, onion and salt, though.

Mix the above ingredients and use to coat your meat. This works really well on boneless, skinless chicken thighs and breasts. If I'm using bone-in meat, it takes longer to cook and I remove all the skin to cut back on excess grease and fat. I also use this for pork chops, but find that they need less salt than the chicken.

Place your coated meat on a baking sheet that has been lightly oiled and use cooking spray to spray the top of each piece of meat. This keeps the breading from drying out and makes a nice crispy coating on the meat, like fried chicken without all the grease. Bake boneless pieces for 20 minutes, with bone-in pieces the time will vary from about 40 minutes to 1 hour.

I usually serve with garlicky green beans - frozen green beans that have been thawed are tossed in a hot skillet with some olive oil, salt and fresh garlic (or powdered garlic if fresh isn't available). Saute until green beans are tender and you have a bit of carmelly brown color to them.

I also serve rice with this. Add 2 tblsp of olive oil to a pot and saute one small onion chopped with a bit of salt. Once onion has browned I add 1.5 cups of rice, saute a couple of minutes then add 3.5 cups of water or chicken stock and water combination. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. This results in flavorful rice that does not scream for lots of butter :)

This has been a recent favorite in our house. Hope your family likes it!