Chicken

This light, garden-fresh soup is double-quick to fix. Just bring it to a boil, remove it from the heat, and let it stand for a few minutes!

Your guests will be amazed at the flavor packed into these phyllo shells. You’ll love how easy they are to make.

I almost always have Basic Grilled Chicken on hand in my refrigerator. Not only is it great for adding to salads, it makes it a cinch to make nachos, pizzas, and so much more. Plus, it’s great cubed when I just get the munchies and want something healthy to snack on.

This chicken is excellent to have on hand if you’re as huge a fan of Mexican cuisine as I am. Add it to salad, soups, Southwest wraps, and more. If you use just a touch of salt along with a salt-free Mexican or Southwest seasoning, it will have a ridiculously small fraction of the sodium of any taco, burrito, or fajita seasoning I’ve seen in grocery stores, not to mention far fewer preservatives.

Depending on the flavor and thickness of the brand of dressing you buy, you may want to consider adding a little lemon juice to it before tossing it with the salad. Lemon can really brighten the flavor and/or thin thicker dressings (thus requiring less dressing). Be careful, though—some brands are already pretty acidic, so adding lemon juice may make the dressing sour. Buy prewashed lettuces to save time.

I think this might be the most guilt-free pizza I eat. Not only are you getting the health benefits of whole wheat from the tortilla, in addition, nutritious salad greens are included, along with plenty of lean protein. If you can’t find the garlic blend, you can use a garlic spread. Just be sure you find one without too much fat. That said, since you’re using only a teaspoon, even one with a bit of fat won’t hurt. Just be sure not to use the leftovers of a more fattening one in bulk in another recipe.

It’s best to buy goat cheese that is precrumbled. This will save you time and make it easier to spread the cheese across the entire pizza, requiring less to get some in every bite. If you do buy it in a tube (it may make sense if it’s significantly less expensive that way), freeze it slightly before attempting to crumble it. It will crumble much easier.

You can buy pregrilled chicken in grocery stores these days for convenience, or you can make it yourself in bulk a couple of days a week (see Basic Grilled Chicken, page 219). If you make it yourself, you’re apt to save a lot of sodium—and likely a lot of money too. I love adding chicken to pizza. The addition of plenty of lean protein can transform pizza into a very well-balanced meal. Because chicken is so low in fat, it’s best to put it under the cheese (instead of on top, like you traditionally would with meat toppings) when making pizza—you’ll keep the chicken from drying out.

I love pesto, but unfortunately, it’s typically made with a shocking amount of oil and is thus very fattening. Luckily, I’ve discovered other ways to enjoy the flavor of pesto without the fat and calories. Using herbs from a tube or frozen herbs works really well on this chicken to give it that classic pesto flavor without the fat . . . and without a lot of work. Please note that if you buy frozen herbs, you should measure them out yourself before using them in recipes. I’ve found that a 1-teaspoon block of herbs is rarely an actual teaspoon.

If you’re a big fan of balsamic vinegar, you’ll love this chicken. And if you’re able to treat yourself, you might consider hunting down a really great aged balsamic. It will turn this no-brainer recipe into something pretty extraordinary. But whether you do that or just grab the one on sale at the grocery store, the result is sure to be delicious.

I’ve heard a lot of people comment over the years that white-meat chicken is dry. True, it’s not as fatty as dark meat, but it’s not dry when it’s cooked properly. The important thing to remember is that as soon as it’s no longer pink inside, you want to get it off the heat. If you don’t see pink, it’s cooked. You don’t need to cook it another five minutes “just to be sure.” All that will do is dry it out. Additionally, it’s important that you start cooking it at a high heat and don’t overcrowd it in the pan. If the heat isn’t high enough or the pan is too small for the amount of chicken, excess moisture will build up and you won’t get that browning on the outside that is so delicious. These basic tips, along with misting or very lightly rubbing chicken breasts with olive oil to create a protective coating of sorts, will keep you from needing tons of fat to make absolutely scrumptious chicken dishes.

Rarely do I shock myself with how great a made-over dish can taste. I’m pretty realistic. Apple pie is pretty much an impossibility if I want it to taste like traditional pie and be lower in fat and calories because of all of the butter. There really is no substitute for butter in a traditional pie crust. I thought this dish would be an impossibility as well. But when we pulled the chicken out of the oven the first time, everyone in my test kitchen was shocked at how fattening it tasted. We knew it would be good, but we had no idea it would actually be great, especially given how much quicker it is than the traditional version! Just be sure you don’t overcook the chicken. If you do, not only will the chicken be dry, the breading will fall off.

Everyone who knows me knows chicken parmesan was one of the major reasons I was overweight. Though I certainly don’t eat the deep-fried version these days, I do still love the incredible combination of tender chicken, perfectly seasoned marinara sauce, and gooey cheese. Here is one of the all-time easiest versions that’s especially great for low-carbers, as it’s not breaded. If you prefer the more traditional breaded chicken parmesan, I have a quick answer for you too: Just pop over to page 118 and try the Unbelievably Easy Chicken Parmesan. Or, better yet, try both!

Soaking chicken in buttermilk is an amazing, guilt-free way to make it super-tender and juicy. I’ve converted more folks to unfried chicken by soaking the chicken in buttermilk than I could possibly recall. Just be sure you don’t overcook the chicken. If you do, not only will the chicken not be plump and juicy, the juice that should have been inside will run out and make the breading soggy.

When making these “wings,” be sure your pan is piping hot and the chicken isn’t overcrowded. The tenders should brown on the outside, and there should be no liquid in the pan as they cook to yield optimum—that is, decadent—results.

When I was a child, we went to Chuck E. Cheese’s for our birthdays. In addition to all of the cool games and the characters, I loved that they cut their pizzas into squares instead of wedges. Not only could you get more crust or less crust as you like (I’m a less-crust girl), I got to eat a number of pieces, since they’re petite. Here, I’ve cut the flatbread into squares to distinguish it from other pizzas . . . and because it just feels more decadent. If you’re making this pizza on a charcoal grill, heat the coals until they are hot and covered with gray ash. Then place the pizza on the grill about 5 inches from the coals for best results. Cover and grill for 3 to 4 minutes.

This dish is a simple marriage of an enchilada and pizza that has become a favorite of mine. If you’re craving enchiladas, this is a great shortcut, because it doesn’t involve laboring over a big pot of sauce or the time-consuming process of rolling enchiladas. Canned enchilada sauce is a great ingredient to have on hand because it’s generally low-fat and has great flavor, and it can be used for more recipes than just enchiladas, like my Mexican Cocktail Meatballs (see page 107).

This wrap is a quick and easy twist on one of my favorite pizzas. I love the combination of barbecue sauce and goat cheese dripping from meaty bites of fresh chicken with a kick of fresh cilantro. Yum! I think you will too.

This wrap is filled with plenty of fresh ingredients. To make it easier to handle, be sure to finely shred the lettuce and cut the chicken into cubes, as this really is an overstuffed wrap—after all, the drippier the better (and more decadent!), right?

Open-ended wraps are a great way to ensure a balanced meal. A recommended serving of protein is about 4 ounces per adult meal. To fully encase that much protein in a tortilla, you would have to use a tortilla that’s higher in carbs than advised. So I keep many of my wraps partially open. That way I can stuff plenty of ingredients in them while keeping my meals in check. In this case, it’s a balanced meal that happens to be brimming with fillings.