Looking for healthy chicken-based recipe - easily divided

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

ormandj

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Messages
24
Location
San Antonio, TX USA
Hi,

I'm searching for a recipe for something that:

#1 - Tastes relatively good (excellent is a +1)
#2 - Is very healthy - I'm attempting to lose weight, without losing muscle - have a pretty tough bicycle and weight lifting schedule going on, so can't skimp on nutrients - but at the same time don't want a bunch of empty calories! Fast food isn't cutting it, for obvious reasons. :)
#3 - Is easily sub-divided, and stored for later eating (I work 10pm-9am, so I need to package up whatever I cook for dinner so I can eat it throughout the night since there are no healthy places to eat open that late.) I do have a vacuum sealer, so I have the means to seal food up. There is a microwave at my office.

I'm thinking something with baked (skinless) chicken breast would work well, but I'm not sure about recipes. I've done the only-chicken thing before, and it works for a few days, but it gets old quickly. I think I need to cook something along with it.

Multiple recipes would be awesome! That way I could have some variety. Ideally, I'd prepare 1-2 days worth of food each time I cooked, seal what I didn't eat immediately into portions, so it would be easy to reheat.

If you have alternative suggestions that fall outside of my baked chicken breast idea, I'm totally open to them, as long as they fulfill the 3 conditions. In fact, I'd very much welcome them!

Thank you kindly for your input, looking forward to some delicious recipes!

Cheers,
David
 
ok, I'm not on a weight training program but I do know how to handle boneless, skinless chicken breasts-----wash them first, then then them set on some paper towels for a few minutes.......set your oven to 350-370 F until up to temp, brush lightly with olive oil, I have to watch the salt so I sprinkle Mrs. Dash's Original salt-free seasoning (wonderful) then bake in the oven uncovered for about 30-35 minutes---internal temps should be 165F.......then tent with foil and let set at least 15 minutes---the chicken will then reabsorb all the liquids and flavors and then it's ready to serve........I love to cut the chicken into strips and serve with a huge mixed salad and baked potato.....I serve with a fat-free ranch dressing and serve the potato with a fat-free sour cream but of course you can vary it any way that you want.........I also add a small cut up avocado to the salad as well
 
I forgot to add that to vary the recipe if you're looking for another recipe then on another evening, take some fat free or low fat refried beans (being from SA I know that you can find them at the local HEB) and put them in a tortilla (lowfat, etc) leftover salad, cheese, sour cream, etc, and sliced chicken and you have another wonderful healthy meal that's deliciosa! Good luck on your workouts.........
 
Stir fry.
Lots of healthy veggies
Virtually no fat aside from what you add
Infinite flavoring possiblities
Easy to portion out.
 
Great suggestions, thank you both! I can do the salads for my meal at home, and make stir-fry to the takeaway portions. Easy enough to cook all the chicken at the same time! The only one I won't be able to do is with the beans, I've got acid reflux disease, and beans are not going to work out too well. It's unfortunate, as you surmised, beans are abundant in SA!

Thank you for the tips on baking the chicken, as well, I never would have thought of that - sounds like it leads to really juicy chicken.

Cheers,
David
 
The other day, I grilled some chicken breast with Greek seasoning from Penzey's (you can make your own with garlic, oregano, and lemon) and then made pita sandwiches with pita bread, chicken, lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce.

You can also top a salad with cooked chicken. My friend makes a Thai-inspired salad with greens, shredded carrots and cucumbers, rice noodles, mint, cooked chicken and bottled soy-ginger dressing. You can make the wrap expatgirl described, but leave out the beans.
 
I take chicken breasts and mince them in the food processor with a bit of garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Then I shape them like burgers. I sprinkle a bit of flour on them, roll them into beaten egg and then cover then with crushed corn flakes (I buy some with no sugar and high fiber). I keep them in the fridge and when I need them I just bake them for 20 min, using the grill during the last minutes so it gets crunchy. No fat, no oil....

Another thing I do: I buy the whole chicken breast and open it with a good knife. i put a slice of ham, mushrooms or zucchini and low fat cheese in the middle. Roll the chicken around and wrap it in film. I then steam it.
 
Yeah, ormandj,

The secret to cooking healthy for a busy single lifestyle is advanced preparation. If you already have the chicken breasts cooked ahead of time then there are so many variations during the week that you can do with them and if you leave town you can freeze individual breasts in freezer wrap.......nothing beats a chicken salad sandwich on a whole wheat bun or bagel topped with lots of veggies and sides of carrots, etc, fruit..........low fat mayo is delicious---fat free---iffy.........I go for fiber.......cardio healthy and better yet holds your appetite in check for hours........

So sorry you can't handle beans.........that's a fifth of our diet.........but anyway if you're looking at chicken breasts make them for the week and not for the day.......
 
I take chicken breasts and mince them in the food processor with a bit of garlic, salt, pepper and oregano. Then I shape them like burgers. I sprinkle a bit of flour on them, roll them into beaten egg and then cover then with crushed corn flakes (I buy some with no sugar and high fiber). I keep them in the fridge and when I need them I just bake them for 20 min, using the grill during the last minutes so it gets crunchy. No fat, no oil....

Another thing I do: I buy the whole chicken breast and open it with a good knife. i put a slice of ham, mushrooms or zucchini and low fat cheese in the middle. Roll the chicken around and wrap it in film. I then steam it.

Nat - I like to put water chestnuts and spring onions in my ground chicken patties...sometimes a bit of teriyaki too and crushed pineapple. There's something satisfying about crunching on the water chestnuts! Ground up melba toast with garlic powder, salt & pepper makes a good coating too.
 
A few years ago, I had a Sears microwave oven. In the cookbook, it had basic beef, basic pork and basic chicken mix. The gis was to make up the basic mixes in advance and then they had suggestions as to how to add things to that ang make a bunch of different meals.

I have tried in vain to find something like that. DW and I are short of time in the evening and something like that would be very helpful.

Sorry, this is not helping you. Unless you can stumble across that cookbook, or someone has a similar idea.
 
Couple of ideas for healthy chicken:

1. chicken soup: chicken broth (if I don't have any already in the freezer, I like Wolfgang Puck brand in the red carton. It's very healthy) Boil the broth (I like to add curry seasoning & pepper at this point) with 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Turn heat down to low till they're cooked. Add chopped up green onions, minced garlic, sliced carrots, chopped celery. Another good (and healthy!) addition is to put in some long grain brown rice that you've already cooked. This recipe freezes well too.

2. This is one of my "go to" recipes - I use it all the time:
Double Roast Chicken and more delicious recipes, smart cooking tips, and video demonstrations on marthastewart.com
To make it even healthier, halve the butter (I do it all the time and works fine) and omit the regular potatoes; make sure to keep those healthy sweet potatoes!
 
boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up in quarters, put into a zipper bag with a jar of your favorite salsa then frozen. take out when needed, toss on a grill and char on grill, delicious and easy
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom