Crunchy Chicken and Fresh Pear Salad With Dried Cranberries

When my grandchildren return to college, I will return to cooking for two. It isn't easy. I often mis-judge the serving size and usually have leftover food. This week it was leftover chicken. Originally, I baked the chicken in the oven with a bread crumb and Parmesan cheese topping. What could I do with the remaining two chicken breasts?

I decided to make chicken salad. The crumb topping was easy to remove and I cut up the chicken. But white chicken needs color, so I added green celery, red onion, dried cranberries, and green, unpeeled pears. Thanks to the onion, the salad had some "zing." Thanks to the pears and dried cranberries, the salad had some sweetness.

Though I love mayonnaise, I wanted thinner dressing for the salad. When I peered into the refrigerator, I found some slaw dressing and it proved to be just right. You may make this salad with turkey instead of chicken. If you don't have any chicken on hand, cooked chicken strips are available in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.

Dried apricots or peaches, cut into thin strips, may be substituted for the cranberries. Add some crackers or bread sticks and you have a satisfying lunch. With warm bread and dessert, this crunchy salad becomes dinner.

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken (grilled, roasted or poached), cut into half-inch cubes

1 large rib of celery, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons diced red onion

2 fresh pears, unpeeled and sliced

1/3 cup dried cranberries

Salt and pepper to taste (Omit if you're watching your salt intake.)

1 bag washed baby spinach (or torn butter lettuce)

16-ounce bottle slaw dressing, such as Marzetti

12-ounce package chow mein noodles

Combine the chicken, celery, red onion, pears, and cranberries in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pile some baby spinach on each plate. Spoon chicken salat in the middle of each plate. Drizzle with slaw dressing and garnish generously with chow mein noodles. Makes four servings.

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Healthy Baked Chicken Recipe - Parmesan Herb Stuffed Chicken

Fresh herbs and parmesan cheese come together to make a delightful Parmesan and Herb Stuffed Chicken. This recipe tastes like something from a restaurant, but easy enough for any weekday night. Thanks to the fresh herbs and parmesan cheese, it has tons of flavor but it's light on calories and fat. In less than an hour, you can have a crave-worthy meal that will please the entire family.

My Parmesan Herb Stuffed Chicken recipe is baked, gluten-free and healthy but it is also drool-worthy. Even your most picky eater beg for this meal to become part of your weeknight rotation. It tastes fancy enough that you could also serve it for a dinner party, date night or any other special occasion. You could also make this dish ahead of time. You would just stuff the chicken breasts ahead of time and refrigerate the uncooked chicken until about an hour before serving. Let the stuffed chicken breasts come to room temperature before cooking.

One of my favorite kitchen tools is my rice cooker. It is programmable so I can schedule it to come up to 10 hours ahead of time so your food is cooked when you are ready. You can use a rice cooker to cook just about any grain. In this recipe, I could cook my quinoa in the rice cooker if needed.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 tablespoons of minced fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon of minced fresh basil

1 tablespoon of minced fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon of minced fresh spicy oregano

1 tablespoon of minced fresh lemon thyme

1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed

½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbs of grated Parmesan cheese

salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start with lots of herbs, whatever ones that you like... I chose cilantro, basil, rosemary, spicy oregano and lemon thyme. These are the herbs that I have currently in my garden. Chop them finely and mix with parmesan cheese and fresh garlic.

Cut a pocket in each chicken breast, fill with herb parmesan mix and secure with tooth picks. Then spray a 3 quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or extra virgin olive oil. Next place stuffed chicken breasts in the baking dish and top with parmesan cheese. Then bake chicken for 35-40 minutes or until juices run clear.

I would suggest that you serve this dish with quinoa mixed with the same fresh herbs and a simple green salad. This would keep the dish gluten-free, full of protein and very healthy! You could also serve with brown rice or with gluten-free or whole wheat pastsa.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8068579

Baked Chicken Recipes: A Quick and Easy Option for You

When it's time to have dinner after a busy and stressful day, you may not feel like cooking. You can go to a fast-food restaurant for a quick and simple meal, but this is probably not a good idea especially if you are on a diet. The best solution would be to find a simple recipe that you can cook quickly. Baking some chicken breasts in the oven is the easiest way to prepare a quick and easy dinner. For a tastier result, you need to coat the chicken with seasoned flour or egg wash. But you don't need to worry since this baked chicken recipe will still be a quick and easy recipe to make.

When you oven bake the chicken breasts, you will need a meat thermometer to measure the final internal temperature. It is important to know the exact temperature since chicken breasts may have different thicknesses and sizes. You need to take them out of the oven when the temperature reaches 160° F. After taking the chicken breasts out of the oven, they will continue to cook until 165° F. This final temperature brings you a well-cooked chicken yet it is still tender and juicy.

Now, I will share one of my favorite baked chicken recipes called baked fried chicken with you. The recipe below yields six servings and you will only need 40 minutes to prepare and cook the chicken.

What ingredients do you need to make baked fried chicken? You will need 6 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, nonfat dry milk (2 tablespoons), flour (3/4 cup), pepper (1/4 teaspoon), buttermilk (2 cups), butter (10 tablespoons) and salt (1 teaspoon).

What do you need to do to prepare it? First of all, put your chicken breasts in a large dish and pour the buttermilk over them. Then, cover and put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. The next thing to do is to mix the dry milk powder, pepper, flour and salt in a bowl. Add 4 tablespoons of butter cover the mixture and refrigerate it.

Preheat your oven to 425° F when you are ready to cook. Then, prepare a jellyroll pan with a nonstick cooking spray. Drain the chicken breasts from the buttermilk. Then, coat the chicken with the flour mixture. Dry the pieces for 20 to 30 minutes on a wire rack.

Now, put 6 tablespoons of butter in a pan and melt it in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes. Once the butter melts, take it out of the oven and put your chicken breasts in the hot butter. Place the chicken in the oven. Turn your chicken after 10 minutes and continue to bake until 10 to 14 minutes. Put the thermometer into one or two of the larger breasts to be sure of the internal temperature. Your chicken will be done when temperature reaches 165° F. Then, it is ready to be served.

Preparing baked fried chicken is very simple and quick. You only need 20 minutes for preparation and 20 minutes for cooking. This is a quick yet healthy recipe especially for those who don't have much time for cooking.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7162685

Baked Chicken Recipes - The Simplest Way to Create an Easy Dinner

If you are looking for a versatile food that is simple to prepare, you need look no further than your friendly chicken. You will never again have to invest more than 30 minutes in preparing a good meal for your family when you choose one of the many baked chicken recipes or marinated recipes for chicken.

Make sure you never run out of chicken in your freezer!

Invest in a Food Saver

One way you can make preparing baked chicken recipes really easy is to invest in a Food Saver. For a top of the line device you will have to spend about $100 but you will find the ease of cooking well worth the investment.

Simply create several different baked chicken recipes and use the Food Saver to prepare them for the freezer, then the next time you want a quick delicious meal you will not have to call for a pizza, just thaw and cook!

Take one trimmed chicken breast...

Baked chicken recipes are the simplest way to create an easy dinner. Trimmed chicken breast is a great baked dish and all you need is a touch of seasonings like the Monterey Chicken seasoning from McCormick brand. Sprinkle your chicken with this or your other favorite seasoning and bake for around 18 minutes.

While the baked chicken recipe bubbles along prepare your favorite vegetables and pasta for a healthy quick meal.

A hearty chicken salad

For the family on the go a hearty chicken salad is always a great choice. Here again is a great place for a Food Saver device. You can seal your chicken in a balsamic vinaigrette and then save it for a later date. Your chicken will absorb the tasty marinade leaving it primed and ready for a delicious salad.

Pop your chicken in the oven for about 18 minutes on 350 degrees. While you wait for the chicken, you can begin preparing the greens for your salad, slice some tomatoes, cucumbers, crumble a boiled egg or two and toss in some croutons. Then toss it all with your favorite dressing and top with baked chicken, sliced julienne.

Hundreds of options!

These are merely two quick baked chicken recipes but rest assured there are literally hundreds of options. Chicken has to be one of the most flexible foods you can work with and besides experimenting, can be fun.

For you bachelors out there, you will find chicken is not only a great meal choice, but is also fantastic for showing off for a special lady.

Baked chicken recipes are definitely the way to go for a quick, delicious and easy meal.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3325779

6 Reasons to Try Tasty Baked Chicken Recipes

Lately I've been looking around for healthy, easy-to-fix recipes for my family so that we can stay away from high-calorie, high-carb fast food.

In addition to being kinder to my wallet and better for my health, they also had be simple, quick and, most importantly, they had to be recipes our children would actually eat!

Our greatest success has come from baked chicken recipes.

Here are the reasons that baked chicken recipes tick all the boxes:

1. They are good for you

A low cholesterol meat, chicken is high in protein which means it is more filling. And baking the chicken is much healthier than breading and frying it.

Eating chicken dishes like these has been an excellent first step for my family to start eating a balanced diet. This is because it goes so well with a large variety of fresh foods, making it easier to incorporate vegetables into our meals.

2. They are quick to prepare

All of the baked chicken recipes we've tried can be made quickly, which is a huge help when you have to make dinner after a long day at work. In these recipes the ingredients are just baked together, so you can toss everything into a pot and let it cook.

Quick and effortless.

3. They can be altered in many ways -- and always taste good

We have an extremely picky eater in our youngest daughter, so we take care to try to prepare meals that will please her. We don't want to start the habit of preparing separate meals for every person in the family It is very important to us for the family to all eat the same meal together.

This problem can be solved with these recipes as such a variety of ingredients and flavors can be used. It certainly is possible to please all the people all of the time!

4. They can be made by anyone

I don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen (and I am hardly an experienced cook( but the baked chicken recipes have been easy to make -- even for me! I've been absolutely amazed at just how easy they are to make.

It is not only the 'one pot' cooking approach that helps but it is easy to find chicken already prepared when buying it, so there's no need to spend time dicing or slicing, it's already done for you.

Even an inexperienced cook like me can follow the recipes with ease and produce impressive results.

5. They don't cost the earth

Like most people, we are trying to stay on a budget, and a major part of our budget is groceries.

Unlike fast food, baked chicken dishes cost very little. Chicken is a lot less expensive than most types of meat or fish, and the ingredients you typically add to chicken recipes are vegetables, which are an economical buy.

6. They are a big hit with the kids

The kids have really enjoyed the baked chicken meals, and it continues to surprise us how much they enjoy them. Our eldest actually has favorite baked chicken recipes that he loves and will ask for several times a week.

It truly is a miracle for us to be able to cook healthy meals that satisfy the kids, our time constraints and our budget needs.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3325863