Coconut Cashew Chicken with Mango Dipping Sauce

 

It’s been an exciting couple of days off work – we spent the afternoon yesterday at Philippe Park in Safety Harbor, and I came home with a ring!  Lance and I will have dated 4 years as of tomorrow, so obviously I knew I wanted to spend my life with him, but I’m so happy to finally make it official!

 

Luckily, I had Wednesday/Thursday off work this week, so I had time to share the good news with my friends and family.  And tonight I made us a pretty simple dinner, but Lance swears this is the best food I’ve ever made (he’s said that a few times now, but I think this topped the other meals…he said I should make this dish once a week he loved it so much). 

We bought a mango and some limes at the Clearwater Farmer’s Market yesterday, so I knew I wanted to make something tropical.  I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest and was happy I could use our ingredients in the dish. 

The dipping sauce was amazing – we actually ended up using the rest like salsa and eating it with chips.  It is sweet, but the red pepper flakes and lime also give it some spice and tartness.  Even if I wasn’t making the chicken, I’d eat the dip on its own.  You could even add some jalapeños if you really wanted to give it a kick.   

I halved the recipe since it’s just the two of us, but I wish I’d made the whole thing.  I’d recommend doubling my amount so you have leftovers – you’ll want them. 

Coconut Cashew Chicken with Mango Dipping Sauce (adapted from Carlsbad Cravings)

Ingredients:

Tenders:

·        About 1 pound chicken tenders

·        1 egg

·        Juice of 1 lime

·        ½ cup cashews

·        ¼ cup sweetened coconut flakes

·        ½ cup panko bread crumbs

·        ½ T brown sugar

·        ½ t garlic powder

·        ½ t onion powder

·        ½ t cumin

·        ½ t salt

·        ½ t pepper

·        ¼ t red pepper

Dipping Sauce:

·        1 mango, chopped

·        2 T honey

·        Juice of 1 lime

·        1 t apple cider vinegar

·        ¼ t cumin

·        2 cloves garlic

·        2 green onions, chopped

·        1 t red pepper flakes

 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400. 

2. Add cashews and coconut to a food processor and blend until about the size of the panko bread crumbs.    

3. Add the cashew and coconut mixture to a shallow dish with the bread crumbs, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, pepper, and red pepper.   

4. Place the flour in another shallow dish.  Whisk egg with the lime juice in a 3^rd dish.  Dredge each chicken tender through the flour, dip in the egg, then coat in the coconut/cashew/panko mix, pressing to make sure it sticks. 

5. Top a foil-lined baking sheet with a rack prepared with cooking spray.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, then broil for about 2 additional minutes until the tenders look crispy.    

6.  Place all the ingredients for the mango dip in the food processor and blend, leaving it just slightly chunky.  Add more spice (or jalapeños) if desired.   

 

 

7. Dip the chicken & enjoy!!!