Peanut Crusted Chicken Breasts with Sweet Onion Sauce

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a nice recipe to have on hand for a family meal. It's easy to prepare and while it's great for a weeknight, it lacks the finesse needed to elevate it to company fare. The chicken is breaded with a peanut crust and baked rather than sauteed. It's served with a sweet yogurt sauce that's flavored with peanut butter and a Vidalia onion dressing. While I prefer to make my own dressing, I've tested this recipe using one that is commercially available. The commercial variety does nicely and makes quick work of meal preparation. For those of you who are purists and prefer the "from scratch" route, I'll post my recipe for sweet onion dressing within the next few days. If you like heat, you might want to add a bit of sriracha to the finished peanut sauce which can, by the way, be made with natural peanut butter. The chicken will be more flavorful if you use salted roasted peanuts in the crumb coating. I like to serve this over lightly dressed bitter greens such as arugula or watercress. It is quite filling and you won't need a lot of sides to fill out the meal. If you're looking for a nice family meal that's a bit out of the ordinary, you like this one. Here's the recipe.

Peanut Crusted Chicken Breasts with A Nutty Sweet Onion Sauce ...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Chicken
4 (6-oz. each) boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2-inch
1 cup flour
2 beaten egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute (i.e. egg beaters)
4 teaspoons creamy peanut putter
2 tablespoons Vidalia onion salad dressing (commercial product is O.K.)
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup finely chopped salted peanuts, toasted
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
Peanut Onion Sauce
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup Vidalia onion salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt

Directions:
1) To prepare chicken: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dredge chicken strips in flour, dip in a mixture of egg white, peanut butter and Vidalia onion salad dressing, then coat with a mixture of bread crumbs, peanuts and chili powder. Place on a greased rack set over a cookie sheet and bake until cooked through 20-30 minutes.
2) To make sauce: Mix peanut butter and dressing until smooth. Stir in soy sauce, parsley and yogurt. Mix well. If very thick, thin with milk. Chill until serving time.
3) To serve: Serve with sauce on plates lined with bitter greens and topped with chicken. If desired, garnish with strands of lemon zest and parsley. Yield: 4 servings.

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