Crispy Chinese Garlic Chicken Wings

I mentioned recently that I’ve been trying to cut out starches and sugars, and it has made a huge and positive impact on my energy levels. It’s pretty easy to eat regularly – lots of salads with homemade dressing (which I make anyway), lots of tasty meats, and cheese. But what is missing when you’re trying to clean up your eating is junk food.

I think junk food is an important part of every healthy diet. Eating should be enjoyable, and you should feel like you can cut loose from time to time or you’ll pick back up on your unhealthy habits. The key for me is to find food that feels indulgent or fun without including a lot of starches and sugars and kicking my cravings back into high gear.

Chicken wings are a great alternative – they’re food you eat with your fingers, with friends, while watching football. They feel like an indulgence, like fun food, but most recipes you see are battered and deep fried, or covered with sweet and gloppy sauces. I wanted to create a recipe for wings that still seemed like fun food – something you would eat while watching the Super Bowl – but still remained fairly healthy. These soy garlic chicken wings, inspired by one of my favorite dishes at a local Chinese takeout restaurant – do the trick.

The secret to these wings is the egg white — adding egg white to the wings’ marinade makes them crisp up wonderfully in the oven without any batter.  The result is wonderfully crisp wings.

For more Superbowl friendly recipes, try the following:

Garlic Butter Mushroom Sliders

Easy Guacamole

In-n-out Animal Style Cheeseburger Dip

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Crockpot French Onion Dip

Easy Slow Cooker Chili

Crockpot Carolina Style Pulled Pork