Everybody Loves Chicken - Ways to Prepare the Popular Meat

Chicken is one of the most popular meats to be eaten in the world. Everyday, millions of people consume chicken in a variety of ways. They may choose to grill, bake, smoke, or fry it, or use it inside another dish such as a casserole, salad, soup, or pasta. Fast food restaurants here in the USA alone thrive on their sales of chicken related dishes, such as sandwiches, nuggets, wraps, and salads. With so many people consuming the meat, there must be hundreds of recipes out there, wouldn’t you agree?

Recipes for chicken dishes can vary greatly in many ways. Some are simple, five minute recipes that can be prepared for just a couple of people after a long day at work. Others may take all day to cook, and combine a number of ingredients with the chicken. The complexity of these recipes can vary as well. A salad, for example, would just comprise of cooking the chicken and tossing it with some vegetables. Other dishes, such as chicken and dumplings, would require the cutting of the meat and the dough, and then allowing both to cook in a pot for hours.

I personally like to prepare my chicken in a variety of ways. My recipe box is full of hundreds of chicken based creations that I could not possibly choose one favorite! Grilling chicken outside is always fun when you are having a family cookout. Warm chicken soup is very nice to eat in the cold of the winter. Chicken wraps make for a quick, healthy lunch. I would guess that I love chicken so much that I consume it almost daily. The best thing about cooking chicken is that the possibilities are endless…You could cook chicken every day for a year, and never eat the exact same meal twice!

Grilled Ginger Apricot Chicken Breasts 
 
3 chicken breasts, split (with bone in)
1/3 cup apricot preserves
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper


Prepare a medium-hot fire in grill.
In a small saucepan, warm preserves, lemon juice, ginger, mustard, salt and
pepper over medium heat, stirring, just until preserves melt, about 2 minutes.
Grill chicken, skin side down, 10 minutes.
Turn and grill 5 minutes.
Brush with some of glaze and continue to grill, turning occasionally and
brushing with more glaze, until chicken juice run clear when pricked with a
knife, 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Stop basting about 5 minutes before chicken is done.

Serves 6