WANTED: Healthy Chicken Recipes!

Day 1
Roast a spatchcock chicken. Spatchcock by cutting down the side of the backbone so you can lay the chicken out flat on the roasting tin. This is the only position for roast chicken where the breasts are not overcooked by the time the legs are done. You make use use of the fact that a conventional oven is hotter around the perimeter (where the legs are) and cooler in the centre (where the breasts are). This is an occasion not to use the fan assist setting on the oven which evens out the temperature.

Spatchcock and salt the chicken as normal a few hours before cooking. Pre-salting (or dry brining) tenderizes the meat by breaking down protein. If you are going to have the oven on anyway make roast potatoes and roast vegetables at the same time.

Put peeled potatoes cut into even sized chunks in cold salted water and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes then drain. Return potatoes to cooking vessel and shake with a tablespoon of fat (I prefer goose fat, but butter or olive oil is good too) to roughen up the edges for crispier roast potatoes. Put at the bottom of the roasting tray. Shake some veg such as broccoli and cauliflower florettes and a quartered onions with a tablespoon of olive oil in a plastic bag and scatter with the potatoes. You can place the chicken on top or in a separate roasting tray on another shelf. Roast about 35 minutes at 200C (quicker cooking is the other advantage of spatchcocking). I like to use a meat thermometer (chicken is done at 74C), but if you don't have one it's ready when juices run clear instead of pink if you prick the joint between the thigh and drumstick.

Save your chicken bones to make a chicken stock, by simmering carcas for a few hours with a halved onion which you can throw in skin and all.

Day 2
World's easiest chicken salad is some chopped up leftover roast chicken, a jar of commercial salsa and a chopped up avocado. Serve in soft taco shells.

Day 3
Avgolemono soup. Cook a handful of rice in a large pot of chicken stock until soft. Turn down the heat to low. Beat together two eggs and the juice of a lemon. Beat a ladleful of the warm broth into the egg mixture then stir back into the soup and turn off the heat. You want the eggs to thicken the soup but not turn into scrambled egg. Toss in some chopped up leftover chicken. Serve with salad as a separate course.

We only use Chicken Breast Fillets from the grocery, weigh out 200g each serving (about 330 calories).

Bacon Wrapped Chicken - super easy to make, get one breast, place a fresh sage leaf on one side, wrap the whole thing in one strip of bacon (42 calories). To cook, heat up a skillet, use a poker chip size of olive oil and sear one side until bacon is crisp (start with the side with the sage leaf) about 4 minutes and flip to cook the other side, about 2-3 minutes. Serve with a cup of steamed veggies and a cup of rice.

Stovetop Chicken - 2 lbs of chicken breast fillet, 1T Olive oil, 1t kosher salt, 1/2 t Black pepper, 1/2 t chili powder, 1/2 t garlic powder, 1/2 t onion powder, mix everything except the olive oil, rub it on the chicken and let marinate for a bit, heat skillet medium high, add olive oil, sear one side 4 minutes, flip and sear the other side about 2 minutes, switch to low heat and let it cook for about 10 minutes covered, remove from heat and let it rest still covered for another 10 minutes. Serve. Great with sweet potatoes or rice and steamed veggies like broccoli and carrots.

These two are staples in our weekly menu plan, simple and yummy, stores well too.

Place a couple of chicken breasts in the crock pot, top with a jar of green chile sauce (salsa verde) and cook. Shred chicken and enjoy!

lleesabb wrote: »

Hi very easy but tastes superb. Chicken thighs skinless and boneless , a jar of salsa . Place in crockpot on low 4-6 hours. This tastes like chicken cacciatore. You can shred chicken and put over rice. I just serve the chicken as it is with zucchini and string beans.

I love salsa chicken. It needs nothing more than chicken and salsa. I usually use boneless breasts. Serve it with rice and a veggie one night and as tacos another.

Chicken Ramen is so yummy and I found a easy way to cook it on a website.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cheats-chicken-ramen

you can pre-cook the chicken in the oven by baking or grilling it and you can add as much veg as you like to bulk out the soup. ^_^