Chicken

Authentic, fiery mole sauces from the southern region of Mexico take days to prepare. This is a relatively quick version of the chunky, spicy, and chocolatey, mole negro or “black sauce.” To experience the full flavors of peppers, native spices, and fresh chocolate, book a culinary vacation to Oaxaca, Mexico, the Land of Seven Moles, where you can explore a district known as the Trail of Chocolate. In the meantime, get fresh ingredients from your local farmers’ market. You can substitute jalepeños for the poblano chiles, but the dark dried ancho and mulato chiles are important to bring the sauce to its characteristic deep chocolate brown. This will make a large batch of sauce designed to thin and use for a meal, then freeze and thaw as needed.

Both the turkey supper and the vegetarian version are good over brown rice. Add a cup of soup or a fruit salad to round out the meal.

Create this mouthwatering favorite with the extra chicken you saved from Southwestern-Style Roasted Chicken (page 128). Serve with pinto beans and slaw.

Buy marinated chicken fajita meat at the grocery store, choosing the one with the lowest sodium, or marinate chicken tenders in a low-sodium fajita marinade. You can even use leftover cooked chicken or lean beef. Warm it with the pasta and sauce.

Transform leftover cooked chicken into a dish that will delight the senses with color, texture, aroma, and flavor. Lemongrass, Thai red curry paste, and coconut (our heart-healthy recipe uses coconut extract) are the popular Thai ingredients that do the trick.

This simple dish is as pleasing to the eyes as it is to the palate. Savor it as is or over whole-grain toast or rice.

Although this dish is delicious if served immediately, the chicken and noodles absorb even more flavors if the mixture has time to stand for a while.

Turn ordinary chicken and cauliflower into a flavor sensation with curry powder and tangy yogurt. Serve over couscous, noodles, or rice.

Known as a festive, regal dish in India and Pakistan, biryani is packed with flavor. Don’t be scared off by the long list of ingredients. The dish really is quick and easy to prepare.

Nothing brings out the flavor of fresh asparagus better than lemon. Here the two combine with whole-grain bow-tie pasta, mushrooms, and chicken chunks for a delightful one-dish meal.

This basic stir-fry recipe gives you many options. You can choose between the Asian and Italian flavorings (see Italian Stir-Fry on page 147), and you can vary the meat by replacing the chicken with round steak, pork chops or tenderloin, firm-fleshed fish, bay scallops, or tofu. Save even more time by using precut vegetables or frozen mixed vegetables (no need to thaw before cooking). Even if you make only half this recipe, you’ll probably want to make the entire amount of sauce.

Snow peas paired with either chicken or shrimp is a classic Asian combination. When you can’t decide which you’d prefer, try this recipe, which gives you both.

Here’s the answer when you have to have a kid-pleasing entrée in next to no time. This recipe even gives you a bonus—planned-overs to use in Asian Chicken and Wild Rice Salad (page 87).

Comforting, spicy, and oh-so-good describe this hearty dish.