As I’ve mentioned before,, chicken has suddenly taken a rather prominent role in our nightly dinner performances. But, as I’ve also mentioned, I tire of chicken. To me, there is nothing sadder than a grilled chicken breast. I don’t care if you marinated it for three days in love and Italian dressing, it’s still gonna be a dry, boring protein in my never-to-be-humble estimation.

But, chicken is affordable, and it’s super Weight Watcher friendly, so I’m really giving my best effort to include it much more regularly in the rotation. There are several things I have learned that I think help chicken along nicely. The first is to cook it in the oven. Grilling chicken seems to really zap it of any juiciness it once had. We’re probably doing it wrong. But roasting in the oven, with a good marinade and sauce, the chicken seems to be able to take on more moisture and flavor than any other way.

Also, speaking of that marinade or sauce, shall we finally dispense with the Italian dressing? I, for one, am over it. I’ve been searching for things that are not greasy, are not overly creamy, and still impart loads of flavor, and of course, that lead me to the Asian aisle. When you want flavor without fat, Asian cuisine never disappoints.

Also, we like chicken thighs. Dark meat has more flavor, and I don’t care who you are, it’s true. I know Americans have a love affair with white meat, and I gotta say, I just don’t get it. You know why the kids always fight over the drumsticks? It’s not just because they are on a nifty easy-to-eat handle. It’s because they TASTE BETTER.

So, chicken thighs + Asian flavors = a chicken dinner I can get excited about. Recently, I was thinking about baking some chicken in a Chex Mix crust for that “faux fried chicken” effect, but I happened to see a bowl of wasabi peas (one of my favorite snacks) sitting on the kitchen counter, and I wondered why those little babies wouldn’t make a good crunchy crust for baked chicken. I wondered, and then I just did it.

Wasabi Chicken
1 Tablespoon Wasabi
3/4 C soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Cup water

4 or 5 chicken thighs, skin removed
1 Cup wasabi peas, crushed
cooking spray

Let the chicken rest in the marinade for as much time as you have – the more the better for the soy sauce to work its magic. I only had a couple of hours, but overnight would be ideal.

When I was ready to cook, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees and pulled out a cookie sheet. I gave it, and the marinated chicken thighs, a liberal covering with cooking spray, and then rolled them in the crushed peas (which I had crushed in a ziplock bag with the flat side of my meat mallet – a satisfying experience, indeed).

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2012/mar/26/232260/

I popped it, and some vegetables into the oven to roast for about half an hour and in the meantime cooked up a little cilantro-lime jasmine rice. A tasty chicken dinner in just over 30 minutes? I’ll take it.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/meganstuke/photos/2012/mar/26/232261/

Serves: 4 Weight Watcher Points Plus Values: 4 per chicken thigh