Corn Flakes Add Crunch To Oven-Baked Chicken

When you’re in a rush to make dinner but inspiration is running low, Crunchy Oven-Baked Chicken is a simple, delicious and low-calorie solution.

The crunchy, golden topping for these lean chicken breasts is nothing more than corn flake cereal pulverized into crumbs with two kinds of dried herbs. Unbeaten egg white helps the crumbs stick to the skinless poultry. Bake the breasts for 35 to 40 minutes and you have a dinner that tastes fried but gets only 33 percent of its calories from fat.

Speedy Apricot Sauce is a sweet, savory topping that you can make right before serving. Simply melt sugarless apricot fruit spread with mustard, chicken broth and soy sauce in a microwave oven and drizzle it over the chicken. The sauce has no added fat but plenty of eye-opening flavor.

To reduce the percentage of calories from fat, pair the chicken and sauce with a serving of unbuttered white or brown rice.

Crunchy Oven-Baked Chicken with Speedy Apricot Sauce

Nonstick cooking spray

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 ounces each)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2-3/4 cups corn flake cereal

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon leaves

1 egg white

Speedy Apricot Sauce:

3 tablespoons sugar-free apricot fruit spread

1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard

2 tablespoons low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth

3/4-1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. Sprinkle the chicken lightly with the salt and pepper.

Place the corn flake cereal in a food processor, blender or heavy-duty plastic bag. Add the thyme leaves and tarragon and pulverize the cereal into tiny crumbs. Place the egg white in one shallow dish and the corn flake crumbs in another.

Dip the chicken in the egg white and dredge in the corn flake crumbs. Fold the thin, pointed ends of the chicken under the thick end to form a rough-square shape. (This helps the chicken cook evenly.) Sprinkle any leftover corn flake crumbs on top of the chicken. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until chicken is firm to the touch and opaque.

While the chicken is cooking, combine the apricot fruit spread, mustard and chicken broth in a microwave-safe dish. Heat on high (100 percent) power for 30 second intervals, stirring frequently, until the fruit spread has melted and the sauce is hot. Stir in the soy sauce. Serve the sauce on the side of the chicken or drizzle lightly on top.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutrition information per serving including sauce: 251 calories, 23 grams protein, 19 grams carbohydrate, 9 grams fat (32 percent fat calories), 95 milligrams cholesterol, 489 milligrams sodium.

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