Chicken

beth0277

What are your favorite ways to make chicken, clean to semi-clean? I have a few recipes that fit that bill but I'm running out of ideas. I'm cutting sugar and it seems that a lot of my favorite recipes have either brown sugar added, honey, or something along those lines that I am trying to avoid. I made some last night with olive oil and mrs. dash and it was bland as bland could be. (It was the salt free version, so maybe that is why.)

Fit_Fox88

Not sure if any of these qualify as "clean" but here are some of my favorites:

1. Parmesan crusted- 2 tbsp grated parmesan, 2-3 tbsp mayo mixed together and spread on top of chicken, then bake
2. Sauteed in olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, set aside, toss spaghetti or your favorite pasta in the pan until coated, once coated put chicken on top of pasta, squeeze more fresh lemon juice over entire dish and top with freshly shaved parmesan
3. Buffalo style- top with frank's red hot and 1-2 tbsp of italian breadcrumb/panko mix, then bake

Also, check out www.skinnytaste.com. Gina has a TON of chicken recipes. You could probably tweak some of them to match your dietary preference.

SugaryLynx

To clean chicken, you rinse it in cold water and prepare it the way you want

lemurcat12

I don't know what people consider "clean" since I don't think of food that way, but my favorite way to make chicken is just to roast it bone-in, skin on. Just the breasts, just legs or thighs, or the whole thing. All you have to add is salt and pepper.

If that isn't clean enough (or just more calories than you want, although I think the taste is worth a few more calories), my favorite way to prepare boneless, skinless chicken breast is a modification of a lemon and olive chicken tagine I used to do with thighs. The key benefit of this vs. that is it's fast. Basically you brown the chicken in some olive oil (spray is fine, but spray generously), remove and add onions and garlic. Add back the chicken plus your spices (I usually use ginger, cumin, cinnamon, plus a bit of saffron, plus pepper), and then cover most of the way with chicken stock. Slice a lemon (or more) and cover the chicken with slices, if you have some extra drop them in the broth or squeeze in some juice. Add green olives. I usually also cook my vegetables with the chicken--it's good with broccoli or asparagus. Again, maybe that's not clean, I dunno.

Beyond that, since I'm really not into boneless, skinless breasts, I mostly just cut them up and add them to a stir fry. I generally add soy sauce to that, however. Or they work on a salad.

endermako

What are your favorite ways to make chicken, clean to semi-clean? I have a few recipes that fit that bill but I'm running out of ideas. I'm cutting sugar and it seems that a lot of my favorite recipes have either brown sugar added, honey, or something along those lines that I am trying to avoid. I made some last night with olive oil and mrs. dash and it was bland as bland could be. (It was the salt free version, so maybe that is why.)

Clean means different things to different people.

I use boneless skinless chicken breast. I always bake it.

At first I put honey mustard on it to hold in the juices so it wouldn't dry out. It's about 10 calories extra.

This week I just used Shake N Bake Parmesan Crusted. Its about 20 extra calories.

You can even use regular Mustard if you want to. I use it for my salmon.

I've use italian dressing as a marinade but the oil adds a bit onto the chicken.

reddcat

bumping for ideas as it is starting to feel like Ground Hog Day with the chicken.

Holly_Roman_Empire

What are your favorite ways to make chicken, clean to semi-clean? I have a few recipes that fit that bill but I'm running out of ideas. I'm cutting sugar and it seems that a lot of my favorite recipes have either brown sugar added, honey, or something along those lines that I am trying to avoid. I made some last night with olive oil and mrs. dash and it was bland as bland could be. (It was the salt free version, so maybe that is why.)

Clean chicken? I thought clean eating only meant not processed, i.e. prepared by yourself. :huh:

sijomial

To clean chicken, you rinse it in cold water and prepare it the way you want

Actually it's best not to rinse raw chicken - that's a great way to spread bacteria.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/washing-chicken-can-cause-campylobacter-food-poisoning.aspx

http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/dont-wash-your-chicken

Haven't got a clue what clean chicken recipes means though but I'm guessing cooking in stock with white wine, bacon, mushrooms and onions probably transgresses some clean eating rule or other.

CrusherKun

To clean chicken, you rinse it in cold water and prepare it the way you want

HAHAHAHAHA

SugaryLynx

To clean chicken, you rinse it in cold water and prepare it the way you want

Actually it's best not to rinse raw chicken - that's a great way to spread bacteria.

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/washing-chicken-can-cause-campylobacter-food-poisoning.aspx

http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/dont-wash-your-chicken

Haven't got a clue what clean chicken recipes means though but I'm guessing cooking in stock with white wine, bacon, mushrooms and onions probably transgresses some clean eating rule or other.

Well, damn. I've been eating dirty this whole time

CrusherKun

I use to bake my chicken when I couldn't grill it since I was trying to avoid all the oil in a skillet/fry pan. But then I realized that a Broiler Pan and your broiler setting on the oven does the same thing as grilling.

Take boneless skin less breast. Season with your favorite NO SALT seasoning (or if you don't care about sodium soy sauce and some NO SALT seasoning for a marinade for and hour or so works great) - Turn on broiler (rack on second highest setting) and let warm up (I use a ball of tin foil to wedge in the door to keep it from turning off once preheated) - stick on broiler pan and place under broiler cut side up for 5-6 minutes - flip and then broil for another 5-6 minutes.

When done - place on a plate and cover with tin foil for 5-10 minutes (THIS IS A MUST or you will have dry chicken!!!)

I usually do a whole 5 lb bag of breasts when I do it like this so I have chicken for the entire week!

jimmmer

Stuff it with cheddar, wrap in smokey bacon, roast for about half an hour.

You're welcome.

lemurcat12

Haven't got a clue what clean chicken recipes means though but I'm guessing cooking in stock with white wine, bacon, mushrooms and onions probably transgresses some clean eating rule or other.

Sounds good, though!

acpgee

Here's my favorite dead simple way to roast a whole chicken.

Spatchcock the chicken. This means cutting out the backbone (use scissors, poultry shears or a knife) and flattening out the carcass, skin side up. Pull the legs up away from the body. This lets heat blast both sides of the legs, so that the cooking time for the legs is the same as the breast. Season with salt and pepper. As an option, push herbs such as basil or slivers of garlic under the skin. Roast at 200C, fan assisted for 35-40 minutes.

Spatchcocking cuts down the cooking time and prevents the problem of different cooking times for legs and breasts.

For leftover chicken the next day I love chicken and avocado salad. Mix some chopped chicken with cubes of avocado and a jar of commercial salsa. Add extra lime if it isn't zingy enough.

Francl27

I grill it 90% of the time to use in tacos, quesadillas, or just with barbecue sauce. If I get thin breasts, I do chicken cordon bleu using Skinnytaste's recipe.

kristydi

No idea if any of this breaks "clean" rules, but I like to roast bone in skin on pieces in a cat iron skillet. I put about half a tablespoon of olive oil, a few tablespoons of write wine, a couple of cloves of minced garlic, and some minced herbs (usually thyme and rosemary since I have those in my garden.) in the bottom of the skillet. Arrange the chicken on top then brush with a bit of oil and season. Then roast in a 450 oven till done.

I also really like this copycat recipe of Outback's Alive Springs Chicken.
http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/2008/09/alice-springs-chicken.html
I don't usually do all the toppings, but it's really good that way. The honey mustard recipe is really good. I usually use grainy mustard and leave out the oil.

LexiMelo

I get frozen chicken breast tenderloins from trader joe's, put them on a pan and spread pesto on them. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Voila. Done.

Tonight I'm tossing that with prosciutto tortellini, more pesto, and asparagus, with pine nuts sprinkled over it. There is about 5 minutes of actual work in this recipe

monolith66

I either bake my boneless skinless chicken breasts, or make a crockpot of like 5-6 chicken breasts and shred the meat to make wraps or whatever throughout the week. Lightly seasoned on both.