then what? Pretty boring hunks of protein, they need help - preferably not tedious, complicated help, though.
If already cooked, then pour a bottle of salsa over them. Or toss them onto a chef’s salad. Or add them to a plate of penne dressed with olive oil, garlic and sliced olives.
One of my family’s comfort dishes is to marinate the breasts in teriyaki sauce for an hour or so, grill them, then cut them up and serve over rice with steamed broccoli.
Cooking degree of difficulty - 1.0/10
Taste - 9.0/10
Health - 7.0/10 (white rice) 9.5/10 (brown rice)
Season lightly (preferably before cutting up) with salt + something else you like (onion powder, curry powder, cumin, cayenne, whatever) then brown them lightly in a pan with some butter. At that point, you can have them with pasta, with steamed veggies, in an enchilada, etc.
You could also boil some chopped carrots and celery in some broth, add noodles, then add the browned chicken for some homemade soup.
Sautee with onion, black beans, rice. Season with garlic, salt, cumin, chili powder, salt. Eat in whatever way makes you happy–wrapped in a burrito, with nacho chips, or on top of green salad with Mexican-type condiments of your choice.
Stir fry with garlic, onion, ginger, and a bag of frozen stir-fry veg. Season with soy sauce and white pepper. Eat with rice.
If you haven’t diced the breasts yet, slice each one into two thin cutlets. Dip in beaten egg then in mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, onion powder, and salt. Fry till golden-brown on each side. Eat with marinara sauce and more parmesan.
Sautee with onion, veggies, and a can of chickpeas. Season with curry powder, cumin, chili and salt. Add a can of diced tomatoes. Eat on rice with a dollop of yogurt.
Sautee with garlic and cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper.
Cook chicken first then dice. Boil a package of egg noodles, drain, return to pan. Add a little water, a little flour, butter, bouillon, salt, pepper. Add chicken. Keep on heat till broth thickens up.
Chicken fried rice (rice, peas, carrots, water chestnuts, onion, scrambled egg, ginger)
Chicken soup (add whatever vegetables you like)*
Mushroom chicken (bake chicken in a can of mushroom soup, add sliced mushrooms)
Chicken curry (saute chicken in a yogurt curry with various vegetables)
Peanut chicken (saute chicken with an easy peanut butter mixture, broccoli, and roasted peanuts; serve over rice or rice noodles)
- For chicken soup, I prefer shredded breast (which means boil the chicken first, then shred and add back to stock with chicken soup-type veggies). For everything else, I slice the breasts into bite-sized strips. Personally, I don’t like the texture of chicken chunks and I don’t think they cook as evenly as strips do.
Slice into cutlets, dip in egg then bread crumbs, fry till golden brown on both sides. Eat with steamed broccoli, rice, and teriyaki sauce.
Cook and dice. Mix with mayonnaise, diced celery, golden raisins, chutney, curry powder, salt. Eat in whatever way you eat chicken salad.
Put in a baking dish with a cup of rice, a can of cream of mushroom soup, and half a can of water additionally. Bake at 350 for an hour.
Marinate in yogurt, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt. Broil without wiping marinade off. Broil some sweet peppers and zucchini along with it. Eat with more yogurt.
Sautee with onions and other veg. Add a can of red, yellow, or green curry paste. Add a can of coconut milk. Eat over rice.
Simmer in chicken broth with mushrooms or other veg, then add coconut milk and a few drops of fish sauce. Garnish with cilantro and lime. Ladle over rice.
My and my wife’s favorite chicken-breast dish, Kick-Off Nuggets:
Coat nuggets with flour and fry. Set aside.
Mix the following together:
1/3 cup of water
2 tsp corn starch
1/2 cup of Karo syrup
1/3 cup of ketchup
2 tbsp of soy sauce
Dice an onion, and 3 cloves of garlic. Fry together with 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper.
When the onion is soft, pour in the sauce mixture. When sauce is bubbling, put in nuggets and coat them with the sauce.
You’ll be glad you did.
Cook them in a pan, adding salt and a bit of pepper as needed.
Add cooked chicken to mixture of egg fried rice
This is a Weight Watchers recipe, but please don’t let that scare you off.
If you’re feeling lazy, don’t bother toasting the sesame seeds, or skip them altogether, and you can also skip the putting the chicken in flour step and just saute chicken chunks in some olive or peanut oil.
Include some steamed or sauteed broccoli.
Sesame Chicken
2 tablespoons sesame seeds – raw
2 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
2 tablespoon dry sherry
2 teaspoon ginger root – fresh, minced
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts – 2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons peanut oil
Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame seeds and
cook until lightly toasted, shaking the pan frequently, about 2 to 3
minutes; transfer seeds to a shallow dish and set aside.
Whisk water, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, sherry, ginger and five-spice powder
together in a small bowl; set aside.
Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish; add chicken and turn to
coat. Shake chicken pieces to remove excess flour.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and
saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add soy sauce mixture to
chicken and cook until sauce thickens and is almost evaporated, about 2 to 3
minutes more.
Dip chicken pieces in toasted sesame seeds and serve, drizzled with any
additional soy sauce mixture. Yields about 4 strips per serving.
Quick Cassoulet:
Saute chicken in olive oil, set aside.
Saute an equal amount of Italian sausage.
Dump the chicken back in the pan.
Add a can of diced tomatoes and a can of white beans
Add a sprig or two of rosemary.
Simmer for about a half hour.
Season with pepper.
Just tonight, I mixed a jar of salsa, a can of Mexi-corn, and a can of black beans with some leftover cutup cooked chicken, poured over rice, topped with shredded cheddar, and heated up. … I like chicken, but the white meat is always so dry, like styrofoam. I end up making chicken salad, or adding to pasta salad, just to make it go down easier. The recipes above sound very good, and I’m making notes right now…
Ugh. Chicken breast is boring already, do you really need to chop it up too?
If you do:
Thai-style soup stuff:
Brown the chicken quickly in some butter or oil on high heat. No need to cook through, just browning is ok. Take out of the pan and lower the heat.
Once the pan has cooled a bit, add a finely chopped onion and two cloves of garlic, some curry leaves (optional) and fry for a few minutes. Add coconut milk and lime juice/lemon juice/lemon grass and the chicken. Simmer until the chicken is almost done, and then add some fresh chopped chillies and Thai fish sauce to taste (or use salt if you don’t have any).
Serve as a starter soup with fresh cilantro on top, or use less liquid and serve it as a sauce/curry with rice.
Other option: salad:
Fry the chicken with some onion on low heat until cooked. Put in salad bowl. Mix with cooked broad beans and some good salad leafs.
Mix garlic, pepper, olives and cottage cheese or thick yoghurt with the chicken/salad.
Eat with fresh bread and drink white wine.
For tonight, I went with my Bachelors’ Classic Chicken Casserole:
One can cream of mushroom soup
One-half can of water
One box of Uncle Ben’s Original recipe wild and long grain rice
Stir it up
Take your chicken breasts whole, or chunked smaller if you want; add seasoning of your choice
Dunk the chicken in the soup mix, stir around to coat, and try to get them below the surface.
Cover and cook for one hour twenty minutes at 325
Easy as falling off a log, and pretty darn tasty
Next time: something like a cacciatore - brown seasoned chunks in olive oil, add onion and garlic til done, add canned diced tomatoes, simmer while I make a shaped pasta so I can scoop up some of everything in a tablespoon (soup spoon).
Tonight, in honor of Mark Bittman ending his column, I plan on trying this with the chicken breast in my fridge. It sounds like it will be sort of General Tso-like… which is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, so this could be a very good thing!
Buy masala curry. Heat up and add water as dictated by the jar, then add diced chicken for delicious chicken masala! Though I think masala works better with more “rough-looking” chicken bits. In chunks pulled off the bird, instead of sliced. But that’s not going to affect the flavor.
Cut them up as small as you can. Cook some onions, peppers and garlic in a little bit of butter or olive oil. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked and the veggies are soft. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in a couple of healthy plops of sour cream. Keep warm.
Slice open a couple of hoagie rolls, line them with sliced cheese (provalone is preferred, but good old American works too). Spoon the chicken mixture into the middle of the cheese-lined rolls, stick them in the oven for a few minutes to melt, and you will have fabulous hot chicken subs.
Either cook the chicken before dicing or after. Grill or brown the chicken in a pan.
Once it’s diced, put it in a hoagie bun (sub bun, whatever you call them in your neck of the woods). Top with provolone cheese, or whatever sandwich toppings you prefer.
Quick, easy, satisfying.
Saute in butter and Worcestershire sauce.
Place whole in casserole dish. Dump powdered onion soup mix all over them. Cook for an hour at 350.
Chop cooked meat for salads, or top with salsa, or dip in mustard or hot sauce.