Taking on fried chicken and mashed potatoes

A while ago I asked my facebook friends to give me ideas on things they make that they'd like to make healthier. I think I have a hit here. Tonight I made a classic chicken dinner. I took on fried chicken (typically anywhere from 340 to 510 calories per breast(, and mashed potatoes (weighing in at 174 to 365 calories in a cup)

This chicken is coated in crushed cashews and baked to perfection (just ask my picky-eating daughter, she loved it!) That alone was worth the entire experience, finding a healthy food that she likes is always a plus. I know you're wondering how many calories... well, it's 264 calories for a 4 ounce breast. wahoo!

Cashew Crusted Chicken Breast

• 3/4 cup roasted unsalted cashews
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• (4) 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place cashews in food processor and pulse until fine crumbs/powder is formed. Add the seasonings and mix well. Rinse the chicken breasts but don't dry them, dredge them in the cashew "flour" and place on aluminum foil lined baking sheet. You may also want to spray the foil with non stick cooking spray, just to make sure your coating doesn't stick.
Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes, turning once, until chicken is done and coating is golden brown. I turned on the broiler for the last 5 minutes or so, just to make sure I got a good crispy coating.

A low calorie, waiste conscious potato? Nah, throw out the potato and replace it with cauliflower! Yes, cauliflower. This version is only 60 calories per serving! You can add milk and butter to yours if you choose to, and that would make each serving appx. 116 calories, and 80 of those calories will be from fat.

Mashed Cauliflower

1 large head cauliflower
2 cups water
2 tsp chicken base
salt and pepper to taste

Cut cauliflower into cook-able (is that a word?) sized pieces. place in pot with water and chicken base and boil until done. Drain off the liquid, but reserve it so you can use some of it to get the consistency you want for your mashed cauliflower. Using an immersion blender, puree the cauliflower until it's the consistency of mashed potatoes. Season to taste.

I finished off this meal with a tossed salad, use whatever veggies you have on hand. I used romaine, salad savoy, zuchinni, cucumber, and tomato. I topped it off with this yummy dressing

Honey Balsamic Dressing

1/2 T. balsamic vinegar
1/2 T. honey
salt and pepper

combine all ingredients, warm in the microwave appx. 10 seconds in the microwave, mix together well.

Enjoy your dinner!