How to Make Healthier, Perfectly Cooked Chicken Everytime!
Have you always wondered how to get perfectly cooked, tender chicken? While I may leave the steaks to the man of the house to grill to perfection; I'm the only one in this household who touches the chicken. What's my trick? Liquid and no, I absolutely do not mean oil, greasy butter or butter substitute, p.a.m, lard etc...
What you need:
Chicken of any kind
Liquid - if you're just cooking straight chicken with an herb rub or cooking it to add it to something later, I use plain old chicken broth. It's fat free and low in sodium. It's only used to cook the chicken, not to eat with the chicken. This one is best used stove top. Pour in enough for the chicken to be sitting in it half way deep.
The man of the house likes his cooked in different salad dressings. To keep this healthy, watch the ingredients on the labels (more about that in the next post). Just because it says 'low fat' does not mean it's healthy. Many 'low fat' foods have other artificial chemicals added to make them taste better. Sometimes those foods are actually less healthy than the regular versions!
Ones I like to use: Honey Mustard, Italian, Raspberry Vinaigrette, Caesar Italian
Place chicken in a baking dish w/lid and pour at least half a bottle of dressing all over the chicken, make sure chicken is coated. You may need more depending on how much chicken you're making. I cook this for two days so I use the whole bottle. Don't worry, it'll look like a lot but will condense down during baking. This one is best being cooked in the oven. 425 degrees (I know that sounds high, but it's the best way) for 45 minutes. This is not a fast cooking dish, but it's a very easy one! I usually serve this with brown rice or couscous and a salad of some sort.
