Pecan Crusted Chicken over a Bed of Spring Mix & Mandarin Oranges

Just by the sound of this chicken salad will definitely make your mouth water. I've always love Pecans and incorporating it as a crust on chicken pieces (boneless or not) is a sure hit. Plus, soaking the chicken on buttermilk truly made this white meat so nice and tender.

I was going to use Panko for this recipe, but I couldn't find one in my cupboard that I used some croutons instead. I guess I must have ran out of my favorite Japanese bread crumbs (how can that be??? hehehe), but the croutons on the other hand worked out perfectly well as a quick binder for my crusty pecans :-)

This is a wonderful chicken salad to top off the night!

Ingredients:
3-4 Chicken Breasts
1 1/2 cup Buttermilk
1 cup pecans
1 cup Croutons or Panko Japanese Bread Crumbs
Salt and Pepper
Peanut Oil for Pan Frying

Spring Mix
1 can Mandarin Oranges, drained
1/4 cup Avocado Oil
1/4 cup Orange-Rosemary Flavored Balsamic Vinegar by Bittersweet Herb Farm

Directions:
Season chicken breasts with salt and Pepper. Soak in buttermilk for a few hours or even overnight. In a food processor, chop pecans and croutons together. Coat chicken breasts with pecan-crouton mixture. Heat pan with peanut oil. Pan fry coated chicken breasts for about 6 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Once cooked, drain excess oil on a plate lined with paper towels. Let it cool. Slice it when ready to serve your salad.

Open a can of Mandarin oranges, drain all the juices out on a strainer. Prepare a bunch of Spring mix on a big bowl or salad plate. Arrange the sliced pecan crusted chicken on top of the salad. Garnish with Mandarin oranges.

In a small bottle or cruet, mix the Avocado oil and Orange Rosemary Balsamic Vinegar together. Shake well. Then drizzle some of the Vinaigrette on the chicken and greens. Serve immediately with a big glass of water! :-P