Southern Fried Goodness!

Do you want to eat healthy but still have that craving every now and then for that "Southern Fried Goodness"?  Here is a healthier version of Mom's Southern Fried Chicken...

Fried Chicken - (a Healthier Version)- that will make you want to shout the Rebel yell - even if your a Yankee! 

Yee-haw!

 

Ingredients

·        1 broiler/fryer organic chicken, cut into 8 pieces (you may even use skin-off breast pieces)

·        2 cups plain Kefir or low fat buttermilk (I make my own Kefir)

·        2 tablespoons kosher salt

·        2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

·        2 teaspoons garlic powder

·        1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

·        Flour, for dredging (whole wheat pastry)

·        Coconut oil, for frying

·        Directions

Place chicken pieces into a glass container and cover with kefir or buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours - or whatever time you have.  This tenderizes the chicken and adds flavor too.

Melt enough coconut oil over medium-low heat (I use expeller pressed/organic that has a neutral flavor instead of cold pressed extra virgin which has a coconut flavor) so that it comes just 1/8-inch up the side of a 12-inch cast iron skillet or heavy fry pan. Once oil liquefies raise heat to 325 degrees F. Do not allow oil to go over 325 degrees F.

Drain chicken in a colander. Combine salt, paprika, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Liberally season chicken with this mixture. it should look red.  Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

Place chicken skin side down into the pan. Put thighs in the center, and breast and legs around the edge of the pan. The oil should come half way up the pan. Cook chicken until golden brown on each side, approximately 10 to 12 minutes per side.  The internal temperature should be 180 degrees. 

Drain chicken on a rack over a sheet pan.

Wow! Here is another recipe I tried from the agave cookbook (you can find the book on my web site – and for all my Nashville friends you can save on shipping). When I went to our “pot-luck” I doubled it so that I would have some to bring home to have the next day…Haahhh! I was out of luck - gone!

I didn’t have all the ingredients below so followed most of it but I substituted a few things:

For the dressing I substituted:
Healthy coconut oil for the vegetable oil.
I didn’t have rice vinegar so I used Bragg’s apple cider vinegar
I didn’t have fresh ginger so I used sushi pickled ginger and diced it

For the salad I used:
Shredded carrots (food processor)
Shredded cabbage
Onion – yellow and green
Cucumbers- julieanned

I don’t like hot foods – and this had a little heat from the chili-oil but it was hot and sweet and you just couldn’t stop eating it. Which is exactly what you want in a healthy recipe.


Asian Cabbage and Sprout with Ginger Dressing

Serves: 6 - 8

Description:

This is a delicious salad that can be used as a side dish or as a main course (just by adding chicken). The dressing has a wonderful Asian flavor and can be used as a dressing on mixed greens as well.

Ingredients:

Salad:
1/2 head green cabbage
1/2 head red cabbage
2 carrots, julienned
2 cups bean sprouts
2 cups snow peas
1 red pepper, diced
2 grilled chicken breasts, cubed (optional)

Dressing:
1/3 cup Xagave
1/3 cup white rice vinegar (unsweetened)
1/3 cup soy sauce*
1 tsp. fresh chopped garlic
1 tsp. fresh chopped ginger root
1 tsp. hot chile oil
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
Garnish:
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

Steps:
Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl and mix. Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend. Pour dressing over salad mix, toss and sprinkle sesame seeds over top.


Tips and Notes:
This salad and dressing will taste delicious for several days.
*May substitute Braggs for soy sauce. (dilute 1 part Braggs to 1 part water).

Thank you Stephen Richards!

Southern Fried Health Food

My food philosophy in a nutshell: It must taste good! – Or you can vibrate the air with useless sound waves about a product and it's health benefits – and it will take up permanent residence in the fridge, growing penicillin like some abandoned lab experiment. However, my real maniacal hidden agenda is that our food be clean, healthy food that TASTES GOOD.

Who am I? I am a recent “true believer”. Yes, I have known, studied, and even taught the benefits of healthy eating and exercise for decades. Heck, we were even full blown vegetarians for a while and felt great. But one summer afternoon the perfumed aroma of a neighbor’s sizzling steak grilling in the distance wafted into our backyard. Like some giggling high school kids with fake IDs we snuck to the grocery store for the contraband. We grilled the most delicious juicy perfectly marbled stake and for a brief moment we experienced carnivore’s heaven. We looked at each other and agreed that we had been way overboard on this "vegetarian thing" – only to feel occasional buyer’s remorse, sugar coated and not nearly as healthy – but hey, it’s the American way. Besides, how can a chocolaholic truly be a health nut?

Well, as they sing, "The times they are a changin’ ", and actions have consequence. What we can get away with in our youth will beat us bloody later. It is funny how that works. It seems like you can get away with living an unhealthy life choice without paying the consequences just about as long as it takes to develop into a habit then “Its time to pay the piper” (as the old timers say) – I think that means by that time, you're pretty much screwed to the wall.

What is a true believer? Well I am not on a sticks and berries diet …yet – My whole life I have been a "from scratch", southern fried, cheese biscuit, real potatoes and gravy, dessert with every meal, dipped in chocolate cook. I still have a family to feed and all food must pass muster on the delicious scale. However, I have slowly converting us all to a healthy alternative diet and we will share the trickery on this blog. I would love for you to join our adventure and to hear your tips and suggestions. We have already seen tremendous life changing and even miraculous health benefits this year!

Coming Tomorrow:

My New Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe (don't tell them until after it has been devoured that it was healthy and actually good for them!)

In the meantime, be sure to visit (and bookmark) our website at http://www.zoeway.com - and keep checking back for more great tasting, healthy products coming soon!