Almond Crusted Chicken

This is a family friendly meal packed with protein and all sorts of goodness! It's real easy to make, trust me I did it in between music class and softball practices and I got it baked and ready to eat so that when we got home, dinner was ready! It definitely beats running around the kitchen last minute trying to come up with some sort of dinner.  I'm so thankful that I have "Clean Slate" book to look up recipes, especially when my brain isn't wanting to be in "Chef mode."

The tools you'll need are:

Baking Sheet
Food processor/ blender can work too

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almonds, toasted (I bought the pre-sliced ones from trader joes and put them into the toaster oven for about 10 minutes)

3 tblsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

1 Garlic Clove

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I used chicken breast that was left in the freezer and some drumsticks that I had on hand too)

3 ounces baby spinach  (I didn't measure this, but used my best judgement on handfuls, because I really don't think you can have too much spinach, right? ;) )

Lemon Wedges

Pepper and course salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425. (Don't forget to do this, because sometimes I do and I'm sitting there pacing around my kitchen until it heats up and thats just wasting time). Pulse almonds, oil, garlic, and 1/2 tsp salt to food processor.

Next, Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Rub almond paste over chicken.

Almost done stay with me here, roast the chicken on rimmed baking sheet until cooked through (no pink), 15-18 minutes (mine cooked for 20, just to be safe of course). Transfer to a cutting board and slice. Serve the chicken over a bed of spinach with lemon wedges -or-  also with some mashed sweet potatoes, or anything you want!

Enjoy, Toni

This is the book, on many occasions has saved me so much time and money on dinner.

Not the greatest picture, but can't you tell how amazingly crunchy and taste it will be?!