Recipe Sifter

Quick creamy basil pesto pasta topped with pan-fried chicken breast, ready in under 30 minutes. Homemade pesto blended with cream coats every strand for a rich, herbaceous weeknight dinner for two.

Try this simple but tantalizing casserole that will become one of your family's favorites for dinner.

Russian-style ground chicken patties stuffed with sautéed mushrooms, breaded and pan-fried golden, then napped with a tangy sour cream sauce. Old-world comfort worth the effort.

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French Normandy-style veal cutlets browned in butter and simmered with brandy, shallots, tart apple slices, and a creamy mushroom sauce. A cozy 30-minute dinner served over wild rice.

This recipe was given to me by a friend who is an ex-patriot now living in Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. I serve this with yellow rice and grilled avocado halves.

Crispy oven-fried chicken with a corn flake crumb crust and no oil required. A flour-egg-flake breading delivers crunch comparable to deep-fried chicken with a fraction of the fat.

Microwave chicken livers with mushrooms in chicken giblet gravy, cooked in bacon fat with onion. A quick, savory offal dish ready in about 15 minutes using just the microwave.

Pasta shells and chicken in a from-scratch ricotta and Parmesan cream sauce with fresh dill and sliced almonds, baked until bubbly. Homemade comfort, no canned soup.

Grilled Mexican chicken breasts basted in a tangy chili-ketchup glaze with brown sugar, Worcestershire, and hot sauce. Scored deep for flavor and topped with cool yogurt.

Golden, flour-crusted chicken rubbed with roasted red pepper and garlic paste. This Portuguese fried chicken recipe uses a simple spice rub, egg wash, and skillet frying for incredible flavor in under an hour.

Light chicken asparagus quiche built on a crisp phyllo crust instead of buttery pastry, with a lean filling of egg whites, ricotta and Swiss folded with tender chicken and asparagus. A protein-packed, lightened brunch.

Mexican chicken rice soup with shredded chicken, chayote, leeks, and arborio rice in a lime-bright broth finished with epazote. A homestyle pot-of-soup dinner with bones in the broth for flavor.

Polynesian chicken tosses tender chicken with pineapple, snow peas, water chestnuts, and carrots in a sweet-and-sour sauce built from the pineapple juice. A light, colorful, takeout-style dinner over rice in about 30 minutes.

Wow, the chicken came out so moist and juicy. Roasting the chicken breast-side down at first really made a huge difference, which insured the juicy breasts. The honey glaze was an excellent addition to the chicken. We served it with mashed potato and honey-glazed carrots. A satisfying and delicious meal.

Wok-seared chicken in a smoky tomatillo-mole sauce with roasted garlic, chipotle, and coffee. Served over egg noodles with jalapeño Jack cheese and a fresh platter of jicama, cucumber, and radishes.