Versatile chicken: a bonanza of good taste & good health

Check your cookbooks, and you’ll find more recipes for chicken than for almost any other food. Its versatility is one reason the world has depended on it for about 3500 years.

Before 1400 B.C., the Chinese raised chickens for meat and eggs. While many historians thought chickens were first brought to the Americas by explorers and pilgrims, a recent discovery shows that chickens lived in Chile from the 1300s. They were brought there by the Polynesians.

In our time, chicken is a highly recommended addition to our diets. It’s low in fat, particularly without the skin. And its fat is lower in cholesterol than other meat fats.

Chicken is a good source of the B vitamins and vitamin D, plus various important minerals. And it contains all nine essential amino acids. Its phosphorous and selenium contents are involved in the release of energy.

Try this easy and fast recipe recommended by Better Homes and Gardens.

Chicken Marsala

Rinse and pat dry about 1 1/2 pounds of chicken breasts, skinned. Place each breast between sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a flat mallet until 1/8 inch thick. Remove wrap.

Mix 1/4 cup flour with 1/4 teaspoon crushed marjoram, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper and press chicken pieces into the mixture.

In a skillet, cook 1 cup mushrooms and 2 tablespoons sliced green onions in 3 tablespoons olive oil or butter until tender. Remove from skillet. Cook chicken in the same skillet for 4 minutes. Turn to brown evenly. Return the mushrooms and onions.

Carefully add 1/4 cup chicken broth and 1/4 cup of marsala or dry sherry. Cook uncovered for 2 to 3 minutes until the mushroom mixture thickens slightly. Stir occasionally.

Transfer chicken to a serving platter and spoon mushroom mixture over it. Sprinkle with snipped parsley if desired. Serves 4.