This precious thing I'm talking about is chicken. Yes the wonderful chicken. I am a fast food addict. I try my best to eat the healthiest fast food I can possibly find, but I know I can do better myself. And I probaly could save a bit of money doing so. My only problem is I just dont know how to cook!! Im looking for the easyist possible way to cook chicken breast. I know that I could just put it in the oven but Im not sure about it. I have no idea how to do this, I just know how to work a microwave and drive though a drive though!! Any suggestions are very welcome!!!
Get yourself to Target and get a George Foreman grill!
Seriously, for $25-ish it'll be one of the best kitchen purchases you've ever made. I cook 3-4 breasts on the GF grill once a week and use them for lunches. I also make pressed sandwiches, cook Mahi (fish), cook pork chops, and even make burgers.
I love to cook and I'd be happy to share easy recipes with you for oven and stovetop as well, but the GF grill will rock your world!
In the meanwhile, here's a quick one:
Take a chicken breast and marinade it for a couple of hours in some Light Italian dressing. (You can even put it in the dressing in the fridge in the morning and take it out at night.) Put a frying pan over medium heat and put the marinaded chicken in it. Cook for 4-5 mins, then turn it and cook for a further 4-5 mins. Test it to make sure it's done - cut into the thickest part and make sure it's not pink inside (it SHOULD be juicy, just not pink).
A cheap crockpot is also a wonder. There are tons of yummy simmer sauces out there. Cut up the chicken (brown it, if you're feeling fancy), dump it in the crockpot, pour on sauce, walk away for 8 hours.
Salsa is one of my favorite crockpot sauces. Jar of Salsa, Hunk o' Meat, 8 hours later, yumminess. Usually we then eat it with tortillas, for soft or hard shell tacos. Chicken, pork, beef, it all works well with the Salsa.
Salsa is one of my favorite crockpot sauces. Jar of Salsa, Hunk o' Meat, 8 hours later, yumminess. Usually we then eat it with tortillas, for soft or hard shell tacos. Chicken, pork, beef, it all works well with the Salsa.
Salsa works in the crockpot? I would have been worried it would just like.. burn and stick to the sides - but that sounds awesome, I love salsa and it seems to be pretty low cal as well!
Spray a pan. Put the chicken breast in it. Sprinkle with cinnamon and salt. Mix together the juice of a lemon and half a stick of melted butter. Baste the chicken breasts with the lemon juice mixture and cook at 350 for 30-35 minutes. When the timer goes off, stick a fork in the thickest part of the breast, and if the liquid runs clear, it's done (though if you have a meat thermometer that is a better measure of doneness). Enjoy.
(This also works well with a whole chicken and makes the most tender meat you'll ever have.)
Salsa works in the crockpot? I would have been worried it would just like.. burn and stick to the sides - but that sounds awesome, I love salsa and it seems to be pretty low cal as well!
Salsa is amazing in the crockpot. And it really makes the meat fall apart after simmering so long.
Take a chicken breast, and cut it into medium-small sized pieces. Put it in a frying pan sprayed with Pam spray. Cook on medium heat, until chicken is cooked through. (Turns white, not pink)
Then...take a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables. Add a measured serving of them to your frying pan. Add in a tablespoon or so of your favorite sauce (Szechuan, soy, teryaki, etc.) from the ethnic food aisle. Stir often, cooking until veggies are hot, about 7 minutes.
Tastes great...and much healthier and lower calorie than Chinese take-out.
chicken Breast is really the easiest thing to cook. You can pretty m=uch do anythng with it.
i sometimes by a Marinade (like Garlic and Herb or Carribbean Jerk) and cut the chicken breast into about 4 oz slices and bake in a dish with the marinade at 350 until no longer pink. It make the flavor soak in and the chicken comes our nice and tender. Pair with some veggies or brown rice for a meal.
Also, The George Foreman grill is a must have. It is so fast and easy, and you can play with spices to find a good mix. (i sometimes use lite Soy sauce and minced garlic) Then plop it on the GF and have a meal in a few minutes.
I have no idea how to do this, I just know how to work a microwave and drive though a drive though!!
Please dont cook meat in the microwave!
A chicken breast can be cooked anyway imaginable. 10 minutes on the stove or 30 minutes in the oven at 350 is pretty much a good rule of thumb. Everything in between is all your personal preferance. If it sounds good, dump it on the chicken. Cruise the spice isle and pick out spices that look good. Sprinkle on the chicken as it cooks. Grilling is probably the easiest and the tastiest! mmm... 7 minutes on each side and your good! No flavoring needed! You can even buy precooked chicken breast, but it's not as good.
This is a chicken dish I recently taught my 16 year old autistic son to cook...Cube your chicken breast into small bite size pieces. It's easier to cut if it's borderline frozen. Pan/stir fry (thawed chicken) on the stove top in a few teaspoons of olive oil and a couple cloves of chopped garlic (SALT & PEPPER TO TASTE). Toss in some diced bell pepper of any color, (a mix of yellow, red & green is good). The smaller your chicken chunks the quicker it cooks. It just takes a few minutes on med-hi heat. Cut open your biggest piece of meat to check & make sure it is no longer pink. This is good over rice with a little soy sauce, or rolled in a small tortilla with salsa. You can omit the peppers and top a spinach and strawberry salad with your chicken...or just open a bag-o lettuce and have an instant chicken salad. You can do a big batch at a time and weigh out your individual servings and store in freezer bags. Once cooked, you can warm it up in the microwave without effecting the flavor very much.
I think this is easiest way to cook chicken breast:
Put the breast between two layers of saran wrap.
Pound it with a meat mallet or a hammer until it is about 1/4 inch thick (don't be intimidated by this step, it's easy and takes less than a minute).
Spray a skillet with cooking spray and heat over med-high heat.
Toss the chicken breast in the skillet. Season it with salt and pepper and any other spices or seasoning blend you want to use. Saute it for a few minutes on one side, then flip it over and saute it for a few minutes on the other side.
Because the chicken is so thin, it cooks really fast and you don't have worry about testing it for doneness with a meat thermometer. When it looks done, it's done. And the pounding tenderizes it, so you don't have to worry about it coming out tough. I use this cooking method all the time; it's fast and always comes out great.
Serve the chicken with whatever sauce you want (salsa, guacamole, marinara sauce). You can serve it over rice, polenta, or pasta and have a veggie on the side (e.g., you could saute some spinach in the same skillet you used to cook the chicken).
Last edited by BlueToBlue; 09-17-2008 at 01:53 PM.
Another similar option for chicken, porkchop, . . .
I cook mine on top of the stove (skin removed) in a skillet with a little olive oil or sray. Brown both sides and then add about 1/4 cup water, lower heat, put lid on and simmer low heat for about 10 minutes (thinner chicken less time)...then I pop in veggies (whatever I feel like) sometimes combinations (mushrooms, onions, cabbage, broccoli, etc) and steam for about three to five minutes. Not only is this a one pan meal (easy cleanup), the veggies get the taste of the chicken.
This method works well with ground beef patties (a little less water) and it's great with lean porkchops too. Hope this helps!!
How in the world do I cook this precious thing?
