Chicken Nuggets (Super Healthy!) GF, Dairy Free.

I was speaking to a friend of mine yesterday about the junk foods our kids have come to love (despite best efforts to steer them into making better food choices - kids are human, too!). My friend was saying that chicken nuggets are her daughter's weakness. Having eaten them once, she is smitten! Once I got off the phone, my own little brood were jumping up and down begging for nuggets - whoops. 

Fortunately, I had some free range chicken thighs in the fridge. I actually find these are a reasonably easy dinner to make. Not quick, but there's something quite methodical about the technique, so long as your little people are under control (mine were watching Frozen, aka, the ultimate distraction). The best thing about this recipe though is the hidden veggies. You can use whatever you have to hand to form the base and simply add the protein (if you're vegetarian, a fetta or cheddar is great). 

You'll need:

A mix of veg (I used 1 celery stick, 2 mushrooms, a whole zucchini, a whole onion, a whole carrot, a little cauliflower). 

1 - 1.5 cups spelt flour (rice flour will substitute)

2 small chicken thighs

rice crumbs or similar for finishing

Oil for frying (I always use organic extra virgin olive oil but coconut is fine too, just lower your temp a little). 

Preheat oven to 175'c fan forced. 

In a food processor, blitz all the vegetables until a thick paste forms. Add the chicken and continue to blitz until incorporated. 

Add the spelt flour, a half cup at a time, until you have a wet dough (don't worry that it IS wet - if it's too dry they will be tough). If your kids are older and into seasoning, add a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of nutmeg or some pepper. Don't salt them if you can avoid it. 

Transfer the mixture from the food processor to a bowl. 

Put the crumbs in a separate bowl. Take about a tablespoon of the dough and form into a ball. Place into the crumbs, coat both sides. 

Heat the oil in a large pan on medium high heat and place the nuggets in. Fry until browned on both sides (about five minutes). Finish on the oven - around 175'c for 25 minutes. 

Leave to cool then serve. These quantities made 24 nuggets, which would have been enough for three meals for my two children. If my husband hadn't eaten all the leftovers!!