"breadcrumbs" news and stories

If you love to channel your inner April Bloomfield or Eric Ripert on a regular basis, but you're a parent, and therefore obligated to turn out food day in, day out, meaning food that your family actually wants (which, sorry, may not be pork belly or sea urchin), read Carolyn Cope's post (and recipe for the grilled asparagus, above) on blog Serious Eats.

Cope is honest: Some days, it's just a drag. So suck it up and give 'em what they crave, which, in this case is not thinly sliced white asparagus with delicate porcini mushrooms but still very delicious and incredibly buttery, lemony, garlicky breadcrumbs (oh, right, with grilled green asparagus underneath). Anyway, there's always tomorrow to be Daniel Boulud.

But, here's a thought: Bring the little mac-and-cheese heads into the kitchen, and turn them on to the possibilities. Check out Kitchen Daily's new Cooking With Kids for ideas and recipes. And, while you're at it, read what Mark Bittman has to say about asparagus on a recent Kitchen Daily post.

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Ever wonder how chefs manage to get the breading to stick so effectively to fish fillets, chicken breasts and other proteins?

Rather than dredging and breading, how about dredging and shredding ... shredded wheat, that is.

Quinoa breadcrumbs. Photo: The Skinny Chef

Everyone loves breaded foods like chicken, fish, crispy zucchini, either to munch alone or to dip in luscious sauces. Whenever I make my buttermilk chicken fingers, they quickly disappear from the plate, but sometimes I like to shake things up and make my breading with ingredients that add health benefits and unique textures.

Quinoa
Cooked quinoa has a creamy texture that kids love, but what do you do with the leftovers? I take cold quinoa and mix it into seasoned breadcrumbs to make a healthier bread crumb coating. Dip your chicken pieces in egg and then press them into the quinoa breadcrumb mixture. Coat both sides with a thick layer of cooking spray and bake for 25 to 30 minutes in a 400 degree F oven. Quinoa not only adds dimension to the breadcrumb mixture -- it also happens to be a complete protein and contains all nine essential amino acids.

Get more of Jennifer's beneficial breadcrumb alternatives after the jump.

With a bit of advance planning, there's really no reason to ever buy breadcrumbs at the grocery store.