Chicken recipes are so versatile, you might serve it three

Chicken recipes are so versatile, you might serve it three times a week, with no complaints!

When it comes to menu planning, chicken figures heavily in most households these days. Not only is it a healthy, nutritious meat, but it's still relatively economical. Because the taste of this poultry is mild, it's the chameleon of meats and can be combined successfully with a huge variety of ingredients. The diversity of chicken recipes spans every culture and cuisine around the world. With the exception of braising, chicken also cooks well with every other cooking method. If your family is getting tired of the old standby, fried chicken, here are a few ideas to spark your repertoire of chicken recipes.

Let's take a look at that old standby fried chicken recipe just to give a few tips on reducing the fat and getting a nice browning with the chicken cooked all the way through and in a speedier fashion.

Partially cook the chicken in the microwave. Because the meat is cooked from the inside out, you don't have to fry it as long, thus avoiding an overdone skin.
Cooking in a convection oven, on a pan with a slotted rack, allows the fat to run off and browns the chicken perfectly, as a good replication of fried chicken.

Whole chickens are often the most economical, in terms of price per pound. Roasting a whole chicken, stuffed with a dressing or rice mix gives you an entree and flavorful side dish in one effort. With a couple of roasted chickens, you may have leftover meat you can use in another chicken recipe, such as fried rice, or tomorrow's chicken sandwich lunch. Make some chicken tacos or enchiladas. Chicken also freezes well, provided it's well wrapped.

Older chickens, which are larger, are even less expensive than roasting chickens and well suited to boiling at a simmer. You get a quantity of home made stock with which to make a big pot of chicken noodle soup. Alternatively, you can freeze the stock in one quart containers, perfect for making an impromptu chicken gravy. Use the chicken meat for those tacos, enchiladas or casseroles.

Older birds are also well served by cooking in a slow cooker. Place some coarsely diced potatoes, onions and carrots in the bottom of the pot and layer the chicken pieces over the top. Add a little sage or your preferred seasonings. You'll get a quantity of broth. Remove the meat from the bones and set aside. Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables. Make your gravy, return the meat and veggies to the pot and you've got chicken stew.

Any chicken meat, light or dark, combines well with pasta, onions, mushrooms or any veggies you prefer. Broccoli, corn, carrots, sweet red bell peppers and zucchini all work well with chicken. Pasta, chicken, mushrooms, onions served with Alfredo sauce is heavenly.

Boneless chicken breasts can be cut in half, lengthwise and then pounded flat in the manner of scallopini. Fry in a little olive oil and serve with a white sauce and a sprinkling of capers.

Broiled chicken breasts are a healthy, low fat dish. The bounty of bottled salsas and chutneys now available at the supermarket give you plenty of choices for different takes on this old, reliable chicken recipe. Cook enough to have leftovers you can use in a chicken chef's salad.

Check out the classic Indian dishes, such as curried chicken and red chicken recipes for yet other disguises for the versatile bird.

Varying your seasonings is the trick to chicken recipe variety. A dinner of curried chicken, scallopini-style and enchiladas may well be viewed by your family as entirely different tastes, welcome in a single week! Just when they start to figure out your strategy, throw in a new twist chicken fried rice with Chinese Five-Spice!