Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Walnut Crusted Pineapple Chicken

Main Dishes, Travel

The last part of our trip was spent on the Lithuanian coast in several resort towns by the Baltic Sea. We were there pretty early in the season so it was still a bit chilly at the beach and I just got my feet wet, although Apolinaras actually swam a couple of days!

We spent a lot of time exploring Nida, which has gorgeous sand dunes and a lighthouse that can be spotted from all angles. Apolinaras spent many summers here, so it was really fun to see all his favorite spots.

Another one of the highlights was walking through the Hill of Witches in Juodkrante, which is home to hundreds of wooden sculptures carved by Lithuanian artists.

Many were inspired by folklore and fairy tales and several were interactive.

We felt like kids again and had a blast posing with them all!

We also really enjoyed checking out the Devils’ Museum in Kaunas. One of the most popular customs is the use of art to scare away evil spirits. It’s thought that the devil hates being mocked and leaves when people make fun of him. Therefore many people collect devil sculptures and display them in their homes.

After indulging in traditional Lithuanian dishes like those yummy zeppelins and these fried dumplings stuffed with mushrooms and covered in cheese for the majority of our trip, I was ready for some lighter fare once we arrived in Palanga.

After strolling the grounds of the Amber Museum and the boardwalk, I ordered a crispy pan fried chicken breast topped with grilled pineapple, a berry sauce, and whole walnuts for lunch.

I just loved the flavor combination and was inspired to create something similar after we got home. For my version, I coated the chicken with finely ground walnuts and bread crumbs and topped it with a sauce made from berry preserves and lemon juice for a bit of tang. Then I topped the chicken with chunks of fresh pineapple!

So this ends the recap of our trip to Lithuania.  I’m so happy that we were able to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary exploring Apolinaras’ homeland together!

Walnut Crusted Pineapple Chicken
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup walnuts, pulsed in the food processor until finely ground
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, pounded flat until 1/2-inch thick
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup of your favorite berry preserves (I used Trader Joe’s reduced sugar blackberry)
Juice of one lemon
1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Mix ground walnuts, bread crumbs, and salt in a shallow pan. Put the flour in a shallow dish and lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour. Place the beaten eggs in another shallow dish and dredge both sides of the flour coated chicken in the egg mixture; place chicken in the walnut mixture and coat well on all sides.

Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick pan and sear two walnut coated chicken breasts on both sides. Repeat with remaining tablespoon of oil and two chicken breasts. Place seared chicken breasts in a 13×9-inch baking dish and bake at 350˚F for 15 to 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

Make the sauce by mixing berry preserves and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth. Spoon sauce over cooked chicken and sprinkle chopped pineapple evenly on top. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 386 calories, 23.8g fat, 2.7g fiber, 9.0g protein per serving
Cost: $1.92 per serving

Caprese Bulgur with Chicken Sausage

Apolinaras is like a kid in a candy store at any establishment that sells tools or hardware stuff. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful he’s so handy and likes to do all the maintenance on our cars and tackle home improvement projects. But, the other weekend I was so...

Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

The past few weeks have been a bit more crazy than usual because I’ve been working on a grant with my PI while still trying to squeeze in a healthy number of experiments. Our annual genetics department and lab ski retreats have also been thrown into the mix, and I’ve...

Avocado Chicken Cakes

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Ours was very relaxing. I finally found our ice cream maker and whipped up a yummy strawberry-mango sorbet. We also had a date at Costco (Am I the only one that considers going to Costco together a date?), and came home...

Caramelized Shallot and Crispy Sage Macaroni and Cheese

Happy Halloween! We’re currently putting the final touches on Apolinaras’ costume and I’m hoping I can convince him to let me post a few pictures, but I don’t want to push my luck too much. I’m very excited that I even convinced him to dress up - this is only his...

Truly Outrageous Baked Sweet Potatoes

I love Halloween and have gone as the rocker Jem of the 80s hit cartoon Jem and the Holograms three years in a row now. I have no shame, I loved Jem growing up and adore the costume so much that I may even use it again at some point! I have very fond memories of...

Chicken Parm Eggplant Stacks

Do you enjoy any odd snack foods? I have a thing for croutons. Not only do I go out of my way to scoop as many as is politely possible onto my salad plate at buffets, I also really like snacking on them on their own – yep, right out of the package and usually when I’m...

Yuzu Miso Mahi Mahi

I recently swooned over a delicious yuzu miso sauce served with one of the tuna rolls at our local sushi joint and decided something similar must be incorporated into my next fish dish - never mind the fact that I didn’t even know what yuzu was or where to find it!...

Moroccan Spiced Chicken

I’ve gotten in a little summer routine in the kitchen lately. We can’t get enough zucchini and yellow squash and every Sunday I end up sautéing a bunch of the veggies (7 yesterday!) in my huge wok to enjoy alongside some chicken and carby side dish of some kind....