Chicken Dinner Recipes

Chicken is one of my favorite foods. As a health conscious eater, I like to eat low fat, white meat. It can be a little dry, so it needs recipes that bring out the flavor. I usually have some sort of chicken dinner twice a week. I also have chicken salads for my lunch in warm weather and I have been known to make homemade chicken broth in the depth of winter. I also like to have chicken soup when I am ill. I know it's a cliché, but it really makes you feel better when you are down in the dumps.

My tip for roasting chicken in the oven is to place slices of oranges and bacon on the bird. This helps to maintain the moisture, stopping it from drying out too much. I don't like store bought stuffing, so I experiment with my own. It's always slightly different each time but the usual ingredients include sausage meat, sage, and basil, all binded together with a couple of beaten eggs. I then like to serve with onion gravy. A fried chicken dinner is always tasty, especially if cooked in some high quality oil. If you're slimming, you can take the skin off.

I also make chicken casserole with carrots, swede, mushrooms and button onions in red wine gravy. It's delicious, served with mashed potatoes. Chicken and mushroom pie is another favorite, made with buttery, flaky pastry. Chicken is ideal for stir fries. It cooks quickly and absorbs the other flavors in the pan. It's a good chicken dinner if you're in a hurry and you can use left over vegetables. I use baby corncobs, thin strips of carrot and mange tout. Dowse some soy sauce on it and serve with rice.

My chicken salads are very tasty. I make them with cherry tomatoes, crunchy lettuce, cucumber, peppers and spring onions. Sometimes, I'll add fruit such as peaches or pineapple. It goes well with a freshly baked baguette. I also stuff Greek pitta bread with chicken and strips of onion and cucumber. It makes a filling chicken dinner and is nicely washed down with a light, fruity wine.

Finally, homemade chicken soup is a special treat on a cold, winter's day. Boil some stock from the carcass and add the ingredients. You can really add what you want but I like to use barley and root vegetables. Try to use all the soup in one day, as it's not a good idea to keep re-heating it.