Food for Thought
Who doesn’t love Chicken?
Well, I meant besides the vegetarian or vegan. For everyone else chicken is the staple, the go to recipe (whatever that recipe may be). Since I also love chicken, I thought I would share with you my 3 favorite recipes. All three are super easy to prepare.
Baked Chicken Breast
Can’t go wrong with this recipe. I use 3 or 4 whole, fresh (or defrosted) chicken breasts depending on how many people I’m feeding. This recipe cannot be any simpler. Here’s the prep.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Prep a casserole or baking dish by spreading a very light coating of extra virgin olive oil on the bottom
- In a separate bowl or dish, take your chicken breast and coat it with a few tablespoons of olive oil and whatever seasonings you like (I like an Italian blend of seasoning but you literally can use whatever seasoning you like).
- Lay your chicken breast, side by side in the baking dish and bake in the over for 25/30 minutes depending on your oven.
That’s it really. Some folks ask if I cover the dish with a lid or foil to prevent the chicken from drying out. I’ve tried it both ways and it makes absolutely no difference.
Tuscan Chicken in Cream Sauce
This recipe can be done with plain pre-cooked chicken breast (I use my Instant Pot for this), or you can purchase an already cooked chicken from the grocery store and just cut it up into bite-sized pieces. The recipe follows (but be ware, this is NOT a diet friendly version).
- Place your cut up, sliced or chunked up chicken breast in a bowl and season with salt and pepper
- Grab a large pan and melt two tablespoons of butter over medium heat and heat up your chicken breast until warmed through
- Pour in about 1/2 cut to 3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream (yep, just straight from the carton right into the pan. I told you this was not diet friendly)
- While the cream is heating and bubbling, throw in some chopped onion, parsley, tarragon, spinach and chopped sun dried tomato (add some sliced mushrooms if you got ’em). Re-season with salt and pepper if necessary
- Keep at medium heat and let the cream bubble until it thickens and it coats the back of your spoon. Be careful here. If you heat the cream at too high heat or if you leave this to go longer in the pan the cream will separate into a gross mess of oil and solids. NOT GOOD AT ALL.
- You can also do this with Italian seasoning and garlic
Chicken Stir Fry
This is one of the quickest ways to put a meal on the table. Again, I start with pre-cooked chicken just as in the Tuscan version above. Here’s how you do it.
- In a wok or a large pan, add two tablespoons of oil over medium high heat and warm the chicken through. Remove the chicken from the pan into a separate bowl or plate.
- Add a few more tablespoons of oil to your pan and over medium high heat stir in a bag of frozen, Asian style veggies, you can get this in most grocery stores. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Be sure your veggies are cooked through and not still frozen.
- Add back in your chicken along with some garlic and ginger paste. If you have sesame oil you can just drizzle a bit here. Season again, if necessary, with salt and pepper Heat up a bit until thoroughly warmed through.
That’s pretty much it. You can serve the baked chicken with mashed potatoes or some veggies. I like to serve the Tuscan Chicken over pasta. The Stir Fry goes well with rice.
There you have it. Three super easy recipes for chicken!!!
