This recipe was born on a night when my husband and I were craving breaded chicken. I opened the pantry to find that we didn’t have any breadcrumbs! As I scanned the contents of our cabinets I saw a bag full of seeds that I had soaked and roasted the day before for another recipe. I thought I’d give it a try, and let me tell you; it was the perfect grain free breadcrumb alternative. Pumpkin and sunflower seeds give this Asian flavored dish a nutty undertone with a true crunch. Served along side my glazed carrots, it makes dinner practically blissful. Well, minus the baby sitting next to me grabbing for her own bite.
You could enjoy this on a regular ol’ weeknight, but this also makes the perfect entertaining meal. The preparation is low maintenance yet the end result is a bit dressed up and sure to impress. For entertaining, simply double the ingredients.
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 1 cup hoisin sauce
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
- 3 garlic cloves, smashed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- 4-6 chicken legs
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup sunflower seeds*
- ½ cup pumpkin seeds*
*Previously soaked and roasted according to the instructions on this site. Tip: Roast up a big batch of seeds and keep them in an airtight container in your pantry for easy use in trail mix, grain free granola, or recipes like this one.
Preheat oven to 400 f
In a large ziploc bag make a marinade of the hoisin sauce, water, coconut aminos, garlic, salt and pepper, and chili powder. Mix up the wet ingredients by kneading the outside of the bag with your hands. Place chicken legs in the marinade, seal the bag, and place in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours, but all day would be even better. The marinade is simple to throw together, so do this before you head off to work in the morning and you’ll be set for a quick dinner when you get home.
Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray so the chicken legs won’t stick.
With a mortar and pestle, grind your seeds until they’re pretty fine. It’s okay to still have a few whole or halves of seeds, but you want the majority of them to be ground fine so they stick to the chicken well.
If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, throw your seeds into a blender or food processor and grind away.
Pour your seeds onto a plate and add some salt, pepper, a little more chili powder and a few shakes of garlic powder. Pull your chicken legs out of the marinade and coat with ground seeds. Place on the baking sheet and into the oven for 40 minutes.
Also, don’t be like me. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been baking cookies at the same time on your larger baking sheet and maybe could have used it for this recipe. A little crowded or not, sometimes you just need to make things work with what ya got. Am I right?
Serve to your husband who is just walking in the door from work. Serve it to your friend down the street who is up to her eyeballs in motherhood and forgot about dinner. Serve it to a neighbor who you’ve never met. Savor and enjoy.
For the glazed carrots recipe, check it out on my blog here!
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Natasha, your recipes are very interesting and I did not know you enjoyed both the kitchen. But knowing Raoul, your dad, I know he inherited. I love you, Mildred titi
I haven’t ever thought of using seeds to coat chicken before! I’ll definitely have to try this sometime! 🙂
This looks great.
I am very proud of you and your ability.
Dad