Everything Chicken Tenders

I have a new favorite, go-to, busy weeknight chicken recipe! Seriously, you can never have too many of those, right? This one is for the everything bagel lovers. I found Everything Chicken Tenders posted on Food.com by MommyDiva, with it's origin credited to Rachael Ray and her friend, Andrew Kaplan.


The best thing about this recipe is that you can make up the dry ingredients and store in a bag or spice jar until needed. The only other ingredient you need, and probably always have on hand, is a little extra virgin olive oil. The dipping sauce is wonderfully addictive, but the chicken has plenty of flavor on it's own, so if I didn't have the ingredients one night for the sauce, we could still have a satisfying dinner on the table in 25 minutes.

This is also a great recipe for kids to hone their cooking skills. Last night I let my 5 year old and her BFF do everything but the oven. They measured each ingredient, and then oiled and coated the chicken tenders. They wore such proud little faces at having made this chicken all by themselves, and over the years I've discovered that the more involved in the cooking a child is, the more likely they are to eat or at least try the food. For the kids' version we skipped the skewers and just placed the chicken in a baking dish.
*Note to self and sage advice for the rest of you: Next time reduce the mess of seeds everywhere by covering the table with some aluminum foil.

I served the chicken with Mixed Green Salad with Oranges, Dried Cranberries and Pecans, also found on Food.com, but credited to a 1998 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

I love mixed greens with cranberries and pecans, but I don't usually use fresh oranges. The cranberries plumped nicely after simmering in the orange juice, and the balance of bitter greens, sweet cranberries and tangy oranges was very refreshing. I'll definitely remember this recipe when the holidays roll around again, but I also think it would be an excellent summer weather salad.