Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner (by Cooking Light)!
Chicken Dinner, Cooking Light Style
I have to admit, I’m a sucker for a cookbook. I have way too many of them, some of which I never even use. I always buy them with the best of intentions, but more often than not they only turn out to have a couple of recipes in them that I actually want to attempt because they’re either too time consuming or they have a hugantious list of ingredients. Chicken, by Cooking Light is not one of those cookbooks. I use this book frequently and every recipe I’ve tried from this book has turned out to be a winner. I can easily find a quick weeknight recipe or a more elegant chicken dinner to serve guests and be confident that it’s going to work out.
Chicken by Cooking Light is a small, hardbound book with only 144 pages, including the index, but it’s packed with easy to read instructions and colorful photographs.
In fact, every single recipe in this book includes a full-color photo. I love that because I want to see what a dish is supposed to look like before I cook it. I’m a visual person so if a cookbook doesn’t include a photo of the dish I want to make, I’m a lot less likely to actually make it. (Weird fact about me #857.)
The other thing that I love about this whole Essential Recipe Collection series of cookbooks is that it includes nutritional data for each recipe. We’re pretty careful about what we eat in my house and having the nutritional data listed right on the recipe saves me the step of calculating it myself.
Chicken by Cooking Light is broken down into six sections:
- Essential Chicken
- Jump-Start Meals
- Dinner Tonight
- One-Dish Meals
- On the Grill
- Casual Entertaining
Each section has something for everyone. Some of my favorites are Old-Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie, Chicken with Provencal Sauce, and Chicken with Lemon Caper Sauce, but my ultimate most favorite recipe in this book is the Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup.
Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup uses leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store if you don’t have any, so it comes together quickly since you don’t have to worry about cooking the chicken. It’s loaded with carrots, potatoes, and noodles in a creamy well-seasoned broth that is comfort food at it’s finest while still managing to keep the calorie count at 247 calories per serving. And it only takes a little over 30 minutes to prepare.
If you’re a fan of Cooking Light publications like I am, you will notice a couple of duplicates from other cookbooks. Some people don’t like this, but I don’t mind because this book is in my top 5 that I use all the time so it’s nice to have them in one place.
The thing about Cooking Light recipes is that they are usually pretty reliable. Once in a while you come across a stinker, but I haven’t found one yet in this book. Everyone’s tastes are different, so your mileage may vary.
Out of all the cookbooks on my shelves – and there are many – this is one that I reach for the most. If you like chicken and are looking for easy to follow recipes that your family will love, I think you will like this book. It’s available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, among other retailers in your neighborhood.
Want. We eat so much chicken it’s great to find new ways to make it.
@Megan, It has great variety, so there are a lot of options depending on what you like. I love that.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, chicken. are there EASY recipes in there? ones that even i could make?
@hello haha narf, The soup recipe I mentioned is super easy. The hardest part is chopping all the veggies. My husband loves the Oven Fried Chicken Fingers, which are totally easy AND you get to mash corn flakes in a ziplock bag. Fun!