Protein on the Go! "Hundred Ways" Chicken

With the usual disclaimer *blah, blah, “we are not nutritionists”, blah* we wanted to share another recipe that we use in our family to help fuel our cycling adventures. Chicken is a very popular protein but in our fast-paced society sometimes it seems like we just don’t have a lot of time for cooking. We have found that pre-cooking our chicken twice a week gives us a quick way to access good, lean protein and we have control of ingredients, cooking process and portion size.

We are not saying that how we cook our chicken is the best or most nutritious way to do it but we do feel that it does pretty well when compared to a chicken nugget. Baked chicken can be incredibly versatile. The recipe that we will be sharing with you can then be quickly reheated to make several different dishes including: shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches, teriyaki chicken stir fry, chicken stroganoff, broiled BBQ chicken, chicken noodle soup and so on….

“Hundred Ways” Baked Chicken



On sale, I bought wonderful fresh
chicken for more than 50% off!



First, know where to shop. Every spare dime you have should be spent on gear and bike maintenance or the +1 waiting to join the rest of your metal herd in the garage so getting good fresh chicken at a good price is a must. I am very partial to Foster Farms fresh chicken so I like to get it from either Costco or I wait for sales from Raley’s (ideally) or Safeway. As soon as I bring the chicken home I remove them from their store packaging and fill up gallon freezer Ziplocs.

I prefer to use bone-in chicken with the skin. The skin helps retain the moisture while cooking and in storage. (More on that later.) You can also mix boneless, skinless breast pieces placed in the center, covered with a loose piece of cooking parchment paper and surrounded by bone-in thighs. The thighs will lend moisture to the breasts and the paper will keep the top from over-cooking. I do not recommend this recipe with boneless, skinless breasts alone as it just doesn’t store and re-cook well.

Next, prepare the oven. Baking the chicken on a day when you are home hanging out (for me that means cleaning and doing laundry) is best so you are free to check progress without having to careful of timing just right for a meal. (Try with a time frame of 90 minutes and adjust from there.) There is some variation to cooking times and temperatures depending on the thickness of the chicken (bone-in breasts take longer than bone-in thighs) or the starting temperature of the chicken. Thicker pieces or pieces that are recently thawed (so will be much colder in the center) require slightly lower temperature at a longer amount of time. Those pieces I usually cook at between 350-355 degrees F. Thinner or warmer pieces I will cook at 360-365 degrees F. The important thing is that you don’t over-cook the chicken but that you also insure that the internal temperature is at the USDA recommended 165 degrees F.  Be sure that the tip of the food thermometer is placed well within the meat not touching the bone (which will read too high) or not accidently passing all the way through to the cold outside air.



Mirepoix, a mixture of carrots, celery
and onion, creates a baking surface
that adds flavor and moisture.

 Now you make a bed of Mirepoix (pronounced Meer-PWAH), which is just the fancy French way of saying “carrots, celery and onion”. Mirepoix is a base flavor for many dishes and I use this combo A LOT. I use a mandolin or a food processer to slice the veggies into ¼ inch pieces that create a roasting bed for the chicken. I usually use several bulk carrots, a celery stalk or two and about a quarter of an onion for a 9x13 inch baking dish.


Prepped chicken, seasoned and ready to go in the oven.

 Next, rinse the chicken and place on top of the veggies. I have baked as little as four thighs at a time but usually I like to do big batches so we have lots pre-cooked for the next few days (and there are a lot of us eating it!).  In this recipe you can either use butter to lightly coat chicken (I would avoid olive oil –too much flavor- and margarine –just don’t get me started) or skip it entirely and wait to baste with the natural juices about halfway through cooking. Either way, now is the time to season.

I experiment with seasoning but have finally settled on a light sprinkling of onion powder, garlic powder and Season All. This combination tends to flavor the chicken in a way that keeps it versatile enough to blend well with other flavors like BBQ sauce or teriyaki down the line. Then pop them in the oven. (Poor dears! But they give of themselves nobly to nourish our bodies and for that we give much appreciation.)

Time to baste. Do it! It works!

Now, I use intuition (aka sight and smell) when I cook so I honestly do not have a set time frame to give of how long to cook. At the temperatures I described the skin will be a nice caramel brown when you should start checking the temperature. If you wish to baste in the “middle” of the baking process you can use a spoon or a brush to drench the tops with their own juices. Try to do it before the skin colors but after it has turned white. Once you have beautiful chicken that reads 165 degrees internal temperature place the dishes on top of the stove to slowly cool until the pieces can be served (the kids circle like vultures and wait to eat lunch until they can get a fresh piece) or placed in Ziplocs for storage in the fridge. Save those veggies in a separate bag as they have many uses as well! There is a lot of juice left there isn’t there? Save it! It can make a wonderful stock for soups or liquid for gravy or so on.

NOW WHAT? NOW WE MAKE ONE OF A HUNDRED RECIPES!

Now, you came home from work or a hard ride and you are starving but need some good nutritious protein. You can simply pop a thigh or breast into the microwave (keep the skin on) for anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute or so, remove the skin and eat plain or…..

1.  One of our favorites is to shred the chicken (usually the breast) into a bowl; add a few tablespoons of BBQ or Teriyaki sauce; mix well and place onto a bun (we like toasted whole wheat English muffins believe it or not) with a big slab of avocado (tons of good things in avocado, wiki it) or any number of other toppings your twisted mind can come up with –put down the Pixie Sticks for heaven’s sake! And enjoy a fast, warm, homemade meal.

2.  Want a homemade chicken noodle soup? Dump a few pieces of the chicken (bones and all) into a pot with the saved juices and veggies. Add a cup or so of hot water and season to taste. Let it simmer while you get other things done. When the chicken seems to be falling apart carefully remove any unwanted “parts” bones, cartilage, etc.  Let that simmer while you cook some noodles of choice –wide egg or rotelle work well- in another pot (it really does work better that way, you can even pre-cook the noodle part of this recipe too!) when the noodles are nearly done (al dente) dump them into with the stock and veggies. Voila! Fresh, healing, chicken noodle soup.

3.  Love chicken in BBQ sauce fresh from the grill but skies too soggy and you don’t want to slave over a hot grill for that long? Take the pre-cooked chicken pieces and place on a broiler pan in the oven (please tell me you have a gas oven with a broiler for this!) warm for a minute on low broil, then brush on some sauce and broil tell the top looks crispy and then flip over and repeat. It makes wonderful BBQ chicken in winter.

4.  You say damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead? You want some good home comfort food and are not quite as picky about diet particulars? Shred some chicken and mix in a bowl with some cream of mushroom soup, use the mixture to top mashed potatoes, noodles (ala stroganoff) or even biscuits! That’s some good ole stick-to-your-ribs farm cookin’ there! Paired with canned or frozen corn kernels completes the Norman Rockwell experience.

5. Make a quick stir-fry by barely steaming some veggies (get creative here! we LOVE broccoli and sliced carrots) so they are just showing some tenderness. Cut baked chicken, cold from the fridge, into bite pieces and toss with steamed veggies into a hot skillet with a little bit of oil. Get some gentle browning going (just barely!) and then pour in a few tablespoons of your favorite teriyaki glaze and cook a minute or two more to incorporate the flavors and serve with rice.

There are some many things you can do with this chicken so feel free to experiment. Use different spices, different veggies maybe? Have you discovered yet another way to use the pre-baked chicken in a new make-quick recipe? Please share your ideas in the comments section! Enjoy!