Last May, the day after his 50^th birthday, Mike decided to eat vegetarian. Perhaps I should say pescatarian, as he still eats seafood, at least for now.  As he circles the sun each year, he continues to incorporate more and more healthy lifestyle choices through exercise and nutrition. It seems to be working, as he looks great and younger each year. Eliminating animal protein was an interesting move. For the simple reason that when I met Mike, I ate a mostly vegetarian diet at home but indulged in whatever struck my fancy while dinning out. Over the past 14 years, Mike’s cravings for animal protein crept into our home until we were eating meat up to 3 times a week, well, at least until last May. When I think about this development, I realized that I am a very wishy-washy eater. I eat or at least try just about anything as long as the animal was raised in a healthy and ethical manner (I try my best to stay away from overly processed and factory farmed meats), especially if it is cooked by someone other than myself.  Nonetheless, I do enjoy trying new and interesting things.

Mike changed jobs recently and, as a result, is traveling quite a bit over the next couple of months. Since it will be just Mathew and myself sharing meals, I asked Mathew what he would like to eat for dinner and mentioned that we can have animal protein or whatever. Although Mathew is a very picky or shall I say limited eater, he does enjoy more vegetarian meals than ones made with animal protein. At least that was my perception until our recent conversation. Well, he started rattling off items that we haven’t had since last May. I was rather shocked, as I had no idea he missed all the chicken and meat we used to eat at dinnertime.

So for our first meal sans Mike, we had Crispy but Not Fried Chicken, this is one of Mathew’s favorite chicken dishes. I adapted it a little from a Rebecca Wood recipe. It has a very tasty and crispy coating besides being incredibly easy – so it’s one of my favorites too. During the meal, Mathew asked if I could use the coating to make chicken fingers. I bet it would work out great and plan to make it next time Mike is out of town.

YUM!

Crispy But Not Fried Chicken

Assorted pastured organic chicken parts (we like thighs)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

2 teaspoon butter

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat, barley, spelt or oat flour (I usually combine them all)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Rinse and pat dry chicken. Remove skin, if desired. Place in a single layer in a shallow dish. Combine the cinnamon, nutmeg and cumin and set 2 teaspoons of this mixture aside. Combine the remaining spice mixture with the lemon juice and mint. Rub into the chicken and marinate, refrigerated, for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 375 °F. Butter a baking sheet.

Combine the oatmeal, flour, salt, pepper and reserved spices in a plastic bag. Shake to combine. Place chicken pieces, one at a time, into the oatmeal mixture. Shake to coat well (remember Shake ‘n Bake?).

Place the chicken on the baking sheet, leaving space between the pieces. When all the chicken has been coated, put a small pat of butter on top of each piece of chicken. Place chicken in preheated oven. Bake for about 50 minutes or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly and golden brown. Serve hot, at room temperature, or cold.

Enjoy!