Get Fit With Larysa Blog

Fried chicken has always held a place in my heart.  It’s so succulent, juicy, and delicious, but full of fat and calories.  The question is how do we get the all the goodness of fried chicken without all the downsides.  The answer comes from rice crispies and bagel chips, yogurt, and your oven.  The yogurt is used to bind the crispies and crushed chips to the chicken and then it’s baked at high heat to really crisp things up.  Granted, the chicken loses the fatty, greasy exterior that we all love, but it also loses about a bazillion calories and grams of fat.  (It might be slightly less than a bazillion, but you get the point.)  Pair this chicken with some braised collard greens to give the dish an authentic southern feel.

Eat On!
Chef Poppy

Unfried, Fried Chicken

Ingredients

* Cooking spray
* 1 1/3 cups crispy rice cereal
* 2 1/4 cups bagel chips or Melba toasts
* 5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 3/4 teaspoon hot paprika
* Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt (2%)
* 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
* 4 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs or halved bone-in breasts (about 6 ounces each)
* 2 bunches scallions
* Harissa, chili sauce or ketchup, for the sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Set a rack on a foil-lined baking sheet and generously coat the rack with cooking spray.

Finely grind the cereal and bagel chips in a food processor and transfer to a large resealable plastic bag. Add 3 teaspoons olive oil, the paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, and pepper to taste and toss.

Whisk 1/2 cup yogurt and the mustard in a shallow bowl. Add the chicken and turn to coat, then transfer to the bag; seal and shake to coat. Place the chicken on the rack and mist with cooking spray.
Toss the scallions with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil and place alongside the chicken. Bake until the chicken is crisp and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 degrees F, about 30 minutes.
Make the dipping sauce: Mix the remaining 1 cup yogurt and harissa to taste in a bowl. Serve the chicken and scallions with the sauce.