Gluten-Free Comfort Food: Almond-Crusted Schnitzel with Noodles (Recipe)

Posted on : November 13th, 2018

Facebook

Google

Twitter

schnitzel

“Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things . . .

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad.”

Well, comfort food and remembering ALL the things we cherish—family and friends, in particular—takes on increased meaning when so many people you know have just lost everything they owned in a horrific fire! Locally, all our eyes have been focussed on the nearby Camp Fire and rightfully so. I, personally, have lost track of how many people I know who have lost their homes and narrowly escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their backs! Many of them also lost their livelihoods because so many businesses went up in flames as well. More than 50,000 people have been evacuated, and that number could rise even higher if the winds push the flames further across the lake and into Oroville or down the hill and into Chico and surrounding areas. Trust me, we’re all glued to our television sets or social media these days, praying for everyone and trying to figure out how to come together to comfort friends, family and strangers and plan for the days, months and, possibly, years to come.

I’m probably going to be gaining weight because we’re all being told to stay inside to avoid breathing in too much of the smoke. I’ve gone out anyway to help at the closest evacuation shelter—something I highly recommend because nothing is more comforting than seeing people mobilizing to help and feeling the love of the community around you. And there’s no way to get that without participating. But when I get home, I’ve been cooking up a storm.

Before my waistline gets too far out of control, however, I’ve decided to rein in my carb consumption! And so began the search for low-carb comfort food. Schnitzel with Noodles, for example. You could just leave out the noodles but there are low carb alternatives such as the eleven yummy choices on this page. I’m going to let you decide how you want to handle that part of this dinner idea. Cabbage with lots of butter was often served at my house (and is quite traditional) so I’d be quite tempted to go with that, probably with another green vegetable like green beans or broccoli on the side.

A recipe for the Schnitzel part is what I want to share today. If you’re not originally from Austria or Germany, chances are you heard about Schnitzel with Noodles from Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music. I always assumed Schnitzel was a specific food but it turns out it’s a cooking method. You could make it with any meat you enjoy: chicken, veal, beef, pork, even reindeer is traditional! (My favorite is chicken so that’s what I use in this recipe.) The meat is pounded flat, dipped in a batter of flour, eggs and bread crumbs, and then fried in oil or some kind of fat. But I want to make it low carb so I’m using almond meal. And guess what? I actually like it better that way!

Almond Meal

I always have some almond meal on hand but, if you don’t, don’t fret! It is super easy to make. Simply put 1/2 cup or less at a time of Maisie Jane’s Roasted Almonds into an electric coffee grinder or food processor and pulse several times until you have a medium-fine textured consistency similar to cornmeal. (Don’t grind too long or you’ll have almond butter!) Put the ground almonds into a container and do it again until you have at least 1 cup of ground almonds for this recipe (or make more and keep it stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for the next time you want to use it). You might want to sift your almond meal to remove the pieces that are too large and grind those a little longer.

Almond-Crusted Chicken Schnitzel

INGREDIENTS

1 cup ground almonds
2 lemons
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped or 1 tsp dried herbs of your choice
2 chicken breast fillets, sliced in half width ways
1 tablespoon gluten-free flour mix, tapioca or coconut flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 Tbsp olive oil

PREPARATION

Place the sliced chicken between two sheets of parchment paper or waxed paper and pound them flat with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Aim to have them be about 1/3″ thick.
Combine the ground almonds, a little salt and pepper, the zest of one lemon and the parsley in a bowl. Then set that aside.
Lightly coat the thin fillets of chicken breast in the gluten-free flour and shake off the excess.
Dip the chicken into the beaten eggs. Then coat it with the almond meal mixture.
Cook chicken over a medium-low heat in a frying pan with 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil until chicken is lightly golden brown. You may want to turn your chicken to make sure the almond meal coating doesn’t burn or keep the heat on the low side so the chicken will cook all the way through without getting too brown on the outside. (This is not hard.)
Serve immediately with Gluten-free Noodles, vegetables of your choice and lemon wedges.

Maisie Jane’s California Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded on strong beliefs and passion for offering unique, flavorful, top-quality, nut products. We strongly believe in earth-friendly practices that start on our family owned and operated orchards. We use Organic farming practices and continue in the process by using all-natural ingredients with no preservatives or GMOs. We believe in honest, friendly and helpful customer relations at all levels. We take pride in every task, every day, with every person.

Facebook

Google

Twitter