Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets

For some reason, my kids have not been too fond of chicken lately (unless it is a plain old roaster). But after the miracle of getting them to eat fish because it was breaded, I figured it was high time to try some breaded chicken: more specifically, chicken nuggets. I tried once and was fairly satisfied, but my second attempt made me quite happy.

CHICKEN NUGGETS

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts (enough chicken to make 15-20 nuggets)

1/4 c. milk or milk substitute (or water)

1 tbs. lemon juice

1 egg

1/4 c. cornmeal

1/4 c. brown rice flour

1 tsp. cajun seasoning*

1/2 tsp. salt

vegetable or canola oil for frying

Directions:

1. Mix milk and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Chop chicken into standard nugget-size pieces.

3. In another small bowl, mix cornmeal, rice flour, seasoning, and salt.

4. Beat egg into milk mixture until well blended. With each chicken piece, dip into milk mixture, shaking off excess, then coat with flour mixture.

5. In a large frying pan, pour enough oil to coat bottom of pan with about 1/8 in. oil. Heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken nuggets and fry for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Set on paper towels to drain. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving.

Makes: 15-20 nuggets

Note: if you are making more than one batches, you will not necessarily need to multiply the milk/egg mixture ingredients. I made 3 batches, there was just enough milk mixture to cover all three. If you are making only 1-2 recipes, you could probably use less milk... it just might make the breading a little more egg-y.

*I make my own mix using the recipe found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creole-Seasoning-Blend/Detail.aspx. (I use black pepper instead of white -- white pepper is just the same as black except for the color -- and I leave out the cayenne pepper because it is too spicy for my kids, but it is a nice kick for a more grown-up palate.)

Oh, and by the way, the girls loved the chicken nuggets... almost as much as I did. ;-)