Pretzel-Crusted Chicken Breasts

Happy Wednesday guys!  How's everyone's week going so far?  So far so good with us!

Picked up our CSA box this afternoon and it was LOADED with goodies!  Can't wait to share all of our goods with you tomorrow!

And on to today's recipe...

When I think of pretzels, I don't usually immediately think to use them as a coating/breading - although it's quite common these days!  But the salty snack is a great breading for chicken and fish!  This recipe proves it!


Ingredients:

Adapted from Savour Fare's recipe

1 & 1/2 cups pretzel sticks
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 & 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Tabasco, optional

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place a rack over a baking sheet.

Place pretzels into a plastic bag and seal.  Run a rolling pin over the pretzels until they reach a desired consistency.  I liked them somewhat pulverized, but still with small chunks of pretzel still visible. 

Transfer crush pretzels to a shallow dish and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine spicy brown mustard, Dijon mustard, water, and vinegar.  Whisk to combine.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil until fully incorporated and homogenous.  Add in cayenne pepper and season with salt, if needed.

Dip chicken breasts in mustard mixture and coat well.  Then dip in dish with pretzels and coat well.  Place chicken breasts on top of rack on baking sheet. 

Bake chicken until cooked through, about 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken breasts (ours were quite large).  Slice and serve with some buttered pasta and Tabasco sauce (couldn't resist the added heat!).

This was such a quick and easy weeknight meal, I'm really thinking about keeping it in my rotation for a while!  I loved the added crunch of the pretzels and the mustardy/Tabasco kick!  Loved it - and I hope if you try this, that you will too!

Have a great Wednesday guys and hope you're back tomorrow to see our CSA goodies!  And Friday, I'll be posting the Derby Pie fudge recipe, so you know you can't miss that!  I'm off to play some volleyball (we've just got to do better than last week's 0-3 showing!)