Chicken!

There was a time when chicken was relegated to Sunday dinner. Now, it's an anytime meal. Here are six chicken recipes to help you through the day, including Butternut Roast Chicken and Mediterranean Chicken & Rice Bake. Enjoy!

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN PIE SOUP

This comes from a wonderful site I’ve just found called Baked by Rachel. I definitely recommend check it out!

This recipe begins, “A hearty slow cooker chicken pie soup, loaded with chicken and vegetables. This comforting dish is perfect for chilly months!”

Yield: Serves 6 - 8; Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless chicken breast

3/4 C onion

1/2 C celery

3/4 C carrots

7 oz can peas, drained (roughly 3/4C)

7 oz can corn, drained (roughly 3/4C)

3 1/2 C russet potatoes

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

3 1/2 C chicken broth

1 1/2 C heavy cream

1/3 C all purpose flour* (see note)

Directions

Trim chicken breast of any fat. Chop onion, celery and carrots into small pieces. Peel and chop potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Drain peas and corn. Mince garlic.

To the bowl of a 5-6 quart slow cooker add prepared chicken and vegetables, along with salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf and chicken broth. Cover and allow to cook on high for 4 hours.

Remove and discard bay leaf. Remove chicken breast, shred and return to slow cooker.

In a medium bowl whisk together flour and heavy cream until smooth. Pour into slow cooker, stirring to combine. Replace cover and continue cooking for an additional 30-45 minutes.

Serve warm.

Note: *2-3Tb cornstarch may be used in place of the flour

CROCKPOT MAPLE BBQ CHICKEN SANDWICHES

1/2 C. maple flavored syrup

2 T. prepared mustard

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

2 t. lemon juice

1/2 t. chili powder

1/4 t. garlic powder

4 boneless, skinned chicken breasts

Place all ingredients in crockpot & cook on LOW for about 7 to 8 hours or until chicken is done.

You can either eat the breasts whole or shred them on buns or rice for more points.

4 servings = 225 calories, 4g fat, 1g fiber.

5 points per serving

From: Weight Watchers crockpot email list

BUTTERNUT ROAST CHICKEN

This comes from Nigella Lawson in The New York Times Cooking e-newsletter. The recipe begins, “Roast a chicken and you know you have a comfortable meal. Alter that a little by butterflying the chicken, a surprisingly simple task that can be carried out with a pair of kitchen scissors, and you have a quick dinner that carries with it the casual air of barbecue, without the bother. Here, buttermilk, which is usually associated with fried chicken, helps to tenderize the chicken and conveys the aromatics: you really get the full value of the rosemary, pepper and garlic. If you want to substitute maple syrup for the honey, you can. Best of all, you can leave the marinating bird in the fridge for up to two days; thus, it gets more tender and you know you have a dinner that needs no more than to be popped into the oven.” Makes 4 servings.

To view this online, go to http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7264-buttermilk-roast-chicken.

Ingredients

1 4-pound chicken

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed

1 tablespoon crushed black peppercorns

1 tablespoon Maldon or other sea salt

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon honey

Preparation

Butterfly chicken by placing breast side down and using heavy-duty kitchen shears to cut along both sides of backbone. Discard backbone, turn chicken over and open it like a book. Press gently to flatten it.

Place chicken in a large freezer bag. Add buttermilk, 1/4 cup oil, garlic, peppercorns, salt, rosemary and honey. Seal bag securely and refrigerate overnight or up to two days.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.Remove chicken from marinade and place on a rack so excess can drip off. Line a roasting pan with foil and place chicken in pan. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Roast for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees. Continue roasting until well browned and until juices run clear when chicken is pierced where leg joins thigh,about another 20 minutes.

Place chicken on a carving board and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting into serving pieces. Place a portion on each of four plates, and drizzle each serving with pan juices.

SHEET-PAN CIDER-MUSTARD CHICKEN WITH ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH

This is from Tbsp., and begins, “Coating chicken in an apple-mustard glaze and roasting with butternut squash on a sheet pan is as easy as it gets. But don’t think for a second that this all-in-one meal isn’t flavorful. That glaze is pure magic.”

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes; Servings: 4

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 bone-in skin-on chicken breasts

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 cups 1-inch cubes butternut squash (from 2 1/2-lb squash)

Directions

Heat oven to 425°F. Spray 18x13-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. In small bowl, beat apple juice concentrate, mustard and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with whisk. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the apple juice mixture; set aside.

Season chicken with 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper. Place on one side of baking sheet, and brush with remaining apple juice mixture.

Place squash on other side of baking sheet. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons oil over squash; toss to coat. Roast 30 to 40 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when thickest part is cut to bone (at least 165°F) and squash is tender.

Drizzle reserved 3 tablespoons apple juice mixture over chicken breasts, and serve.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN & RICE BAKE

This is from FamilyTime, and starts off, “The lemon, herb and olive flavors in this one-dish, oven-easy chicken supper add great taste...and the whole dish is ready in just one hour.”

Serves: 6; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 50 minutes

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

Swanson® Chicken Stock or 1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth

1/4 cup chopped fresh Parsley

1/4 cup sliced pitted ripe olive

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes

1 1/4 cups uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast half

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Paprika

Directions

Stir the broth, parsley, olives, lemon juice, black pepper, tomatoes and rice in a 3-quart shallow baking dish. Cover the baking dish.

Bake at 375°F. for 20 minutes. Uncover the baking dish. Place the chicken onto the rice mixture. Sprinkle with the garlic powder and paprika. Cover the baking dish.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender.

Ingredient Note: We develop our recipes using a 4-to 5-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast half per serving. However, there are a range of sizes available in-store, from the butcher counter to the meat case and the freezer section. Use whichever you prefer- just follow the recipe as written above for the best result. If you're using larger chicken breasts they may require a little longer cooking time.

CHICKEN CHILI TACOS

I usually post this with my Taco Tuesday recipes. But it fits nicely here.

This is from the TODAY Show Recipes e-newsletter. Prep Time: 10 minutes; Servings: 4.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 1/2 cups prepared pico de gallo or salsa

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 1 1/2 limes)

2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted

2 cloves garlic. minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

12 taco shells (crisp or soft/flour or corn)

Preparation

Place the chicken, pico de gallo or salsa, lime juice, cumin seeds and garlic in a slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. (You can also cook on high for 3 hours.)

Allow to cool a bit. Scoop the chicken out with a big slotted spoon and place it in a large serving bowl. Use two forks to pull the meat apart. The chicken will shred easily. Stir in some cooking juice from the pot and top with the cilantro.

Place the shredded chicken, your taco shells and desired fixings on the table and let everyone put together their perfect taco.