Coconut-Macadmia Nut Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

I was contacted by a nice representative at OhNuts! who wanted to give me a sample to use in a recipe. My little blog has never been offered anything, so I was pretty excited. As I started thinking about what to order, I remembered the amount of macadmia nuts we consumed on our honeymoon two years ago, and how many dinners featured this island nut. The nuts arrived quickly, and I immediately sampled them. They came packaged well and tasted delicious. I will certainly order from OhNuts! again.

This coconut chicken recipe was my inspiration as I set out to make this dinner. Chicken tenders were on sale, so I decided to make us a summer salad by topping the chicken with pineapple salsa over mixed greens.

For the chicken, you will need:
*about 12 chicken tenders or 6-8 chicken cutlets
*2 eggs
*1 cup flour
*3/4 cup shredded coconut
*1/2-3/4 cup chopped/crushed roasted macadamia nuts
(I started with 1/2 cup and then added more as needed)
*olive oil for pan frying

1. Preheat oven to 250.

2. Set out three shallow dishes or low bowls. Combine nuts and coconut in one dish, place the flour in another, and lightly whisk the eggs in the final dish.
3. Salt and pepper your chicken. Dredge each chicken piece into the flour, then egg, then nut mixture.
4. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Pan fry your chicken tenders in batches so that the pan isn't too crowded. The tenders needed about 4 minutes per side. Place cooked chicken on a baking sheet in the oven to stay warm while you prepare the remaining chicken pieces.
5. Serve on a bed of greens topped with the pineapple salsa recipe listed below.

This pineapple salsa recipe is from Confections of a Foodie Bride.
You will need:
*2 cups chopped fresh pineapple, diced
*
juice of 1 lime
*
1 handful cilantro, chopped

*1 jalapeno, chopped
*
Salt

1. You can place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse 2 or 3 times. I prefer to chop my pineapple as fine as possible, and mix all ingredients together in a serving bowl. )This also prevents me from having to clean my large food processor!)
2. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Mango-Avocado Salsa

I am a recipe hoarder. Seriously, there are so many items starred in my Google Reader, recipes in Word documents, dog-eared pages in magazines and cookbooks, as well as inspiration from family and friends. I love trying something new. Usually, I sit on a delicious recipe for too long, and then I am a bit frustrated with myself for not trying it sooner. That is the case with this fresh and simple summer salsa recipe. It is yet another hit discovered on Skinny Taste. If you have not checked out Gina's blog yet, then you must. She creates and shares delicious, healthy, and usually simple to make recipes. I think this salsa combination would be a great topping to a chopped chicken salad, or as a highlight in tacos, tostadas, or a burrito bowl. I can guarantee that we'll be eating this again soon!

You will need:
* 1 mango, diced
* 1 avocado, diced
* 1 plum tomato, diced
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 1 jalepeño, seeded and diced (I used a bit less than 1/2 from rings I had leftover)
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 lime, juiced
* 1/4 cup chopped red onion
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* salt and fresh pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir together.
2. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 20 minutes before serving. This will help the flavors blend together.