This is a recipe I’ve had saved for quite some time, anticipating making it but never having enough coconut. EVERY TIME I buy coconut it gets used before I can make this meal, it never fails. So, I finally bought a huge bag, and tonight was Coconut Chicken night, darnit!

Gather your ingredients. Coconut, Panko bread crumbs, Orzo (or some other sort of pasta or rice), an egg, Paprika, Cumin, Salt and Pepper. Oh, and chicken. Preheat your oven to 350°F.

I like to make a little assembly line. On the right we have our egg, beaten and placed in a bowl. To the left of that is our bread crumbs, coconut and spices all mixed together in a larger bowl (alternatively, you could put this in a bag and do it shake-and-bake style. And to the left of that is our pan, sprayed with olive oil. Also, yes, we eat a lot of bananas in our house.

Dip your chicken into the egg. Both sides.. yeahhh, that’s good.

Dip into bread crumb/coconut mixture. I do this twice.. dip back into the egg, back into the dry mix. Gives you a little bit of a thicker coating. If you do this, you might need a second egg, depending on how much chicken you’re making.

Put those deliciously coated poultry cutlets into your pan, then into the oven. I only made two pieces, enough for myself and my son since the hubby is out of town.

Set a pan on the stove with some salted water in it, and turn the heat up to medium-high. Once it’s boiling, add however much orzo you’d like. In this photo, my water was not boiling. I turned the wrong burner on. Durrr.

15-20 minutes later, your chicken should be all cooked up. A meat thermometer should read about 180°F. Plate that gorgeous specimen. When your orzo is al-dente, drain and serve. I served it with a dash of salt and pepper, and a spritz of ICBINB spray. Also, some Avocado to get those healthy fats in. They feed the brain.

Enjoy!