Creativity, chicken breasts, and quick meals
Every cook needs to have a few quick, easy dinners tucked away in her or his arsenal for those nights when you have only half an hour to whip things up. Any of the following ideas for ways to serve chicken breasts fits the bill. Add a vegetable or two and rolls, and you have a fast meal without losing creativity.
For each of the following, use a chicken breast for each person. Cook at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Don’t be afraid to cut into the meat to make sure it has lost its pink entirely.
Marinated Chicken
In the morning before you leave for work, place the chicken breasts into a plastic zipper-top bag along with plenty of marinade. You can use Italian dressing, French dressing, barbecue sauce or any number of marinades you can get at your local grocery store. I usually poke a few holes in each chicken breast with a fork before marinating, so some of the flavor can get inside the meat. Discard any leftover marinade when you take the chicken out.
Spinach and cheese stuffed chicken
In a bowl, mix one package of thawed spinach, three to four dollops or heaping spoonfuls of sour cream and any variety of shredded cheese. Slice partway through the side of a chicken breast, and stuff it with some of the spinach mixture. Place in an ovenproof dish, and sprinkle any remaining mixture over the tops of the chicken breasts. This spinach mixture makes four stuffed breasts. (The sour cream is important in this and the following dishes to hold the spinach together.)
-- Greek style: Add feta cheese, some oregano and three to four dollops of sour cream to one package of thawed spinach, and follow the previous directions for stuffing the chicken breasts.
-- Italian style: To one package of thawed spinach, add a dollop of marinara, shredded mozzarella, three to four dollops of sour cream and Italian seasoning. Top chicken breasts with leftover mixture and some additional marinara.
-- California style: To spinach and three to four dollops of sour cream, add sun-dried tomatoes and shredded Monterey Jack cheese.
Monterey Chicken Bake
Place chicken breasts in ovenproof dish. Top each breast with barbecue sauce, crumbled bacon (feel free to use already-cooked), and cheddar cheese (you can use grated or a slice per chicken breast).
Hawaiian Chicken
Top each chicken breast with barbecue sauce or sweet and sour sauce. Place a pineapple ring on each chicken breast. Feel free to place additional sauce and pineapple around each chicken breast.
***
The key is to be creative. You can make a ton of things quickly by using different ingredients in your kitchen. Bake the chicken breasts at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and adjust from there, if necessary. (I always recommend cutting into the chicken breast to check doneness.)
And as we say in the newspaper business, if you take a chance and it doesn’t work, you’ve always got another chance tomorrow.
Comments (7)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
By the way, I would like to point out that the photo is of a potluck I had with two of my friends from work. I contributed the spinach-stuffed chicken, one gal brought the veggies, and Christy would like the world to know how proud she was of those pesto potatoes she made :) They were pretty good -- but then, it all was!
Posted on March 14, 2006 11:38 PM
Thanks, Mel. Chicken is a staple of our menu -- it usually goes on the grill with BBQ sauce, so it's nice to see some easy alternatives. Speaking of grilling, I'm not terribly creative there either. I've taken to using some tasty marinades (Lowery's Ginger Sesame is delicious with chicken or beef), but again, not terribly creative. With the weather warming up, maybe you have some good, healthy and easy grilling recipes to share? Good side dishes would be nice to learn too as ours are usually a steamed vegetable and rice -- healthy, but a little boring after awhile.
Posted on March 15, 2006 7:46 AM
I will see what I can do -- I usually leave the grilling to my husband, as I was instilled with a healthy fear of open flames at an early age, and he has pyro tendencies :-) But maybe I can experiment a bit this season.
Posted on March 15, 2006 12:05 PM
PRETTY good?! Only PRETTY good? My heart is shattered. :)
(just kidding)
Posted on March 15, 2006 5:34 PM
Are the recipes for boneless chicken breasts or bone-in? They sound yummy!
Posted on March 17, 2006 2:14 PM
Yes, they are for boneless chicken breasts. And my family seems to like them :)
Posted on March 17, 2006 11:11 PM
Great ideas for plain ol' chicken breast!
Posted on March 18, 2006 9:20 AM