Pan Fried Chicken & Spinach, White Bean and Bacon Salad

In my continued efforts to feed us different, interesting and/or comforting food, I went on a serious e-hunt last weekend for some new, healthy recipes.  I found both the main and the side dish for this post courtesy of Cooking Light.  As usual, the pics leaves something to be desired since I still can't find my camera battery charger.  Really you wonder? We moved in May 2010, you'd think I'd have found everything by now, but no, there's a considerable list of things I'm still looking for without success (to date, I'm sure they'll turn up eventually).  And also as usual, I've tweaked the original recipe for more desirable results, at least in my opinion. As a heads up, the recipe for the chicken is time consuming in that you have to refrigerate the chicken quite a while, but at least that's inactive time for the cook.

Pan Fried Chicken 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutme teaspoon fine sea salt
2 bone-in chicken breast halves, skinned
2 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned
2 chicken drumsticks, skinned
1/4 cup peanut oil

Sift together first 6 ingredients; place mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Sprinkle salt evenly over chicken. Add chicken, one piece at a time, to bag; seal. Shake bag to coat chicken. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour. Place chicken on a cooling rack; place rack in a jelly-roll pan. Reserve remaining flour mixture. Loosely cover chicken; chill 1 1/2 hours. Let chicken stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

While the oven is preheating, line a 13x9 inch casserole dish with paper towel at least three sheets thick.  Return chicken, one piece at a time, to flour mixture, shaking bag to coat chicken. Discard excess flour mixture. Heat peanut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan.  Brown the chicken on all sides to a rich, golden color.  Remove the chicken from the frying pan and place in the casserole dish.  Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Serve with Spinach, White Bean and Bacon Salad.

Spinach, White Bean and Bacon Salad

1/4  cup  maple syrup
3  tablespoons  cider vinegar
1  tablespoon  extravirgin olive oil
1  tablespoon  Dijon mustard
1/4  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
1  (15.5-ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1/2  cup  thinly sliced green onions
1/2  cup  finely chopped red bell pepper
5  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
11 ounces fresh baby spinach

Combine first 6 ingredients in a small microwave-safe bowl, stirring with a whisk; microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until hot. Place beans in a 2-cup glass measure; microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until hot.

Combine onions, bell pepper, bacon, and spinach in a large bowl. Add syrup mixture and beans; toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

I would also recommend that if you have a Whole Foods or some other source of decent store bought corn bread, this is a great chance to enjoy that too!