Go Smart with California Walnuts Smart Menus Program: Delicious, convenient recipes aimed at changing the way Americans eat, brought to you by best-selling author and Oprah regular Dr. Michael Roizen and James Beard award-winning cookbook author Mollie Katzen. Smart Menus is designed to help people embrace a smart eating style that’s long on taste and convenience and short on scolding. Smart recipes and tips on how to create your own smart eating style are available at www.walnuts.org/smartmenus.

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Put cereal and walnuts into a 1-gallon size zip-top plastic bag. Press air out of bag and zip closed. Using a rolling pin or heavy food can, press and roll over ingredients in the bag until cereal is finely crushed and walnuts are in pieces as small as grains of rice. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper to bag. Shake to mix.

Crack egg into medium-size bowl. Beat with a fork until yolk and white are mixed together. If using chicken breasts, place chicken on cutting board. cut into 1/2-inch wide strips across the short direction of each piece of chicken. Add sliced chicken (or tenders) to the egg and stir to coat. With a fork, remove chicken pieces letting extra egg drip off. Put chicken into the bag with walnut mixture. Zip the bag closed. Gently shake the bag back and forth, and press the walnut coating onto chicken.

Pour chicken onto prepared pan and use a fork to separate pieces so they aren’t touching each other. Bake 10 minutes, until crumbs are golden brown and chicken is cooked through. To check if chicken is done, remove one piece and cut in half; it should be white all the way through, not pink.

Nutrition information per serving:
calories 410, total fat 23g, saturated fat 2.5g, monounsaturated fat 3.5g, polyunsaturated fat 15g, cholesterol 135mg, sodium 258mg, total carbohydrate 14g, dietary fiber 2.5g, protein 40g.