Chicken Poppers

There are so many life lessons in food...let me start by saying that beauty being on the inside totally counts with this one! It may not be a photogenic main dish, but oh my, are these a super go-to! Sometimes, great things require a lot of effort and a lot of wait; these beauties do not! Seriously, double the recipe so you can enjoy for dinner AND then have awesome protein snacks to grab out of the fridge later in the week. And this is a great recipe to play up with the flavors. If you don’t want the cranberry/sage/pine nut combo, try out fennel and dried thyme instead. They’re yummy any which way you make them!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Now here's the list:

• 1 lb ground chicken

• 1/2 yellow onion chopped

• 1 grated zucchini

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 tsp cumin

• 1/4 tsp sage

• 1/4 tsp pepper

• 1/4 tsp oregano

• 2 Tbsp dried cranberries chopped (try to buy the unsweetened or sweetened with fruit juice kind)

• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds

• 1 Tbsp pine nuts

• 1-2 Tbsp olive oil for sautéing veggies

Sauté onion and zucchini in olive oil. Add in the salt, cumin, sage, pepper and oregano to the veggies. While veggies are cooking, chop the dried cranberries. Mix cranberries with the sesame seeds and pine nuts and set aside. Once veggies are cooked through, transfer to a mixing bowl. I like to spread them around in the bowl to let them cool a bit before I add the ground chicken. Using a spatula, mix the veggies, ground chicken and cranberry/seed/nut mixture until well combined. The mixture will have a fairly loose consistency so it's easiest to use a tablespoon or cookie scoop in transferring them to the parchment lined baking sheet. Kinda reshape to round up a bit. Place poppers in 425 degree oven until lightly browned and edges begin to crisp up, about 22-25 minutes. Enjoy these glorious nuggets of goodness and pray for leftovers!