Southern Baked Chicken with Sides

I use thighs for my baked chicken, I feel I get a lot more flavour and my kids don’t know any different, I also make a saving on my food bill! Win, win!

SOUTHERN BAKED CHICKEN THIGHS
Ingredients:

• About 12 Chicken thighs, boneless and skin removed

Crunchy Topping:

• 75g plain flour & 75g Cornmeal (polenta, gives a nice crunch)
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt & 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Low cal oil for spraying

Marinade:

• 200ml buttermilk
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt
• ½ tsp onion granules
• ½ tsp dried Italian herb

Method:

1. For the marinade, this is so easy, just mix the ingredients together in a large bowl, add the chicken and coat well. Cover and chill overnight, or for at least four hours. This tenderises the chicken and gives it a nice bite from the buttermilk, adding an extra kick.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C and line a large baking tray with foil or baking paper, you’ll thank me later!
3. For the crispy coating, mix all the ingredients together in a shallow bowl.
4. Shake off the excess buttermilk from your chicken and dip into the dry mix, turn to coat well on all sides.
5. Place on the lined baking tray. Spray each thigh about 4 times with the oil. 6. Cook for 20–25 minutes, or until crispy, browned and cooked through, let rest for 5minutes before you tuck in!

BAKED WEDGES
Ingredients:

• 1kg potatoes (just not the waxy variety, I used red rooster)
• 1 ½ Tsp Paprika
• 1 ½ Tsp Garlic powder
• 1 Tsp salt
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 1 Tsp Olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200C
2. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 4 wedges. I like to leave the skin on as they add more crunch and fibre.
3. Mix all your dry spice ingredients.
4. Place wedges in a large bowl, drizzle over oil and seasoning. Toss with hands.
5. Spread out wedges on tray, ensuring skin down
6. Bake for about 20minutes if parboiled (See note*) turning once if needed to make sure they get nice and crispy. They will take about 35minutes if not parboiled

NOTE: Boil the wedges in lightly salted water for about 4 minutes, when cool enough to handle, tip them into a large bowl mix to coat the wedges in the oil and spices, then arrange them in a single layer on a baking tray

SKINNY COLESLAW
Ingredients:

• 120g plain Greek yogurt (fat free)
• 60g light mayonnaise (see note)
• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 2 Tsp sugar
• 1 Tsp Dijon mustard
• ½ Tsp salt
• ¼ Tsp black pepper
• 200g of finely shredded green cabbage
• 100g Finely shredded red cabbage (optional)
• 200g shredded carrots
• 1 small red onion
• 1 Tbsp Granulated sugar (optional to cut through sharpness)

Method:

1. Grate onion with a box grater, it’s less bitter and doesn’t overpower the coleslaw Scrape grated onion into a large bowl.
2. Add Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt, pepper in a large bowl and whisk to combine. (Reserve 1/3 of the mayo mix to a small container and add one clove of grated garlic, perfect for dipping your wedges!)
3. Finally add cabbage, carrots, toss to coat. This is a sharp tangy dressing which cuts through the sweetness of the chicken and just add a yummy bite.

NOTES
Can add more or less of the slaw mix depending on how creamy you want the coating of your dressing. For this Easy Skinny Coleslaw, I use a combination of light mayo with non-fat plain or Greek yogurt. Using Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise still creates a creaminess—but has less fat, calories, that mayonnaise can carry. I don’t recommend substituting the entire amount with the Greek yogurt since it tends to carry a lot more water than mayo and can cause the coleslaw to get soggy. No one wants a soggy bottom! Slaw can be made 12 hours in advance. Store covered in the fridge

Huge thanks to Trish, @atouchofmagic for the recipe!