What’s happier than a happy meal with chicken nuggets and fries? An allergy-free happy meal with organic chicken nuggets and beta carotene–packed sweet potato fries, all with half the fat! Choice Batter, featured in this recipe, absorbs 50 percent less fat than traditional batter does.
The trick to these allergy-free nuggets is your food processor. I first learned about binding meat with itself instead of with eggs or breadcrumbs from Ana Sortun’s fantastic cookbook Spice. She specializes in Eastern Mediterranean recipes, and teaches that kneading meat in the food processor causes the proteins to change, creating a creamier consistency that holds together beautifully, for tender, light patties, kebabs, and nuggets. Voila, all chicken, no allergens!
You don’t need a deep fryer for this recipe, but you do need a candy thermometer. I have an inexpensive one that measures temperature for both candy and oil (see Resources). I’ve written the fries recipe to serve four 3-ounce portions; you can double the recipe if you’d like more.