Jun

Quick Chicken Tips & Meal Ideas

By Cate Ritter, Cate's Nutrition Kitchen

Chicken is truly a weeknight wonder as is makes an easy, nutritious and delicious addition to many meals. With 30 grams of complete protein per 3.5 ounces, this metabolism-boosting food is great for a meaty snack, a quick lunch, dinner in a dash or even a simple breakfast. Chicken is also a good source of tryptophan, niacin, selenium, vitamin B6, phosphorous and choline. For more nutritional value, particularly higher vitamin and omega-3 essential fatty acid content, select pastured chickens that feed on outside grass, shrubs and bugs.

Be sure to mix up the kind of chicken you consume. Don’t just eat a plain, boneless, skinless chicken breast every day. The dark meat actually contains more nutrients, specifically more B vitamins and choline. Try different cooking methods, such as broiling, grilling, sauteing, baking or roasting. Avoid anything fried or heavily processed, such as chicken nuggets or microwavable meals.

Buying Birds

The best way to get quality chicken is to talk directly to the farmer and ask him/her what the chicken ate, where it was raised and how it was treated.
Best: pastured, organic, hormone & antibiotic-free
Better: vegetarian-feed, organic, hormone & antibiotic-free
Avoid: conventional feed-lot diet, non-organic, hormones, antibiotics & additives

Here’s a cheat sheet for deciphering food labels at the supermarket:
Grain-fed: fed grain products, such as corn, oats, alfalfa, clover and soybeans
Natural: containing no artificial flavors, colors, or chemical preservatives
100% vegetarian diet: included grains/grass, but no animal byproducts
Hormone-free: raised without hormones
Antibiotic-free: raised without antibiotics
Free-range: allowed outside access, but doesn’t specify space or duration
Pastured: raised on pasture with food from the pasture and a grain/grass feed
Organic: fed products free from most pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or chemicals, animal byproducts and sewage sludge

Quick Concoctions

Enjoy the following combinations with rotisserie or leftover chicken:

Raw veggies with olive oil & Zukay dressing
Carrots, cucumber, red peppers, hummus & olives
Braised bacon apple cabbage
Broiled asparagus & sliced portobello mushrooms
Steamed kale & leftover mashed sweet potatoes
Sauteed stir fry veggies, fresh ginger, Tamari & basil
Spinach salad with avocado & grapefruit
Arugula salad with sliced strawberries, cucumber & walnuts
Greek salad with olives, feta, tomatoes, cucumber & red onion
Organic corn tacos with lettuce, tomato salsa & guacamole
Sprouted tortilla quesadilla with raw milk cheese & red pepper
Sprouted cinnamon raisin sandwich with goat cheese & spinach

When buying rotisserie chicken, look for an organic bird with minimal ingredients added. Avoid words you can’t pronounce or those from a chemistry book!