Healthy Poultry

By Food & Wine
Updated December 22, 2016
Credit: © Maura McEvoy
From Thai-style chicken in lettuce leaves to grilled quail with goji berries and pine nuts, here are healthy yet delicious poultry recipes.
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Ancho-Rubbed Turkey Breast with Vegetables

Credit: © Con Poulos
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To enhance turkey's flavor and moistness, and to create an exceptionally crisp skin, F&W's Justin Chapple rubs the bird with a salt, sugar and spice mix before roasting.

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2 of 22

Beer-Braised Turkey Tacos

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Skinless turkey thighs and drumsticks are packed with flavor; they're also low in fat and high in protein and essential minerals like selenium. Deborah Schneider braises the meat in beer until ultratender, then shreds it for tacos. "It's also fabulous in a sandwich," she says.

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Grilled Quail with Goji Berries and Pine Nuts

Credit: © Anson Smart
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Corey Lee uses Chinese dates, also called jujubes, in this elegant riff on a classic Chinese combination of poultry, fruit and nuts. Instead of the dates, look for goji berries, which are also a dried, red fruit.

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Chicken Breasts with Artichoke-Olive Sauce

Credit: © John Kernick
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For a quick and healthy dish, serve chicken breasts with a sauce made of frozen artichoke hearts, olives, and crumbled feta cheese.

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Curried-Chicken and Vegetable Pan Roast

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" Chicken might be my overall favorite meat for feeding a crowd," Kristin Kimball says. She sometimes roasts it with Indian spices she picks up on her biannual trips to Manhattan—like the curry in this one-pan recipe of yogurt-marinated chicken with butternut squash and brussels sprouts.

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Thai Chicken and Watermelon Salad

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For this recipe, summer watermelon and chicken come together in a puckery salad dressing made with lime juice and fish sauce.

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7 of 22

Chicken Smothered in Gravy

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This satisfying riff on smothered pork chops calls for skinless chicken drumsticks, which have only slightly more fat than breasts, as well as more zinc and iron and tons more flavor.

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Curried Chicken on Pita

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Marcia Kiesel gives this quick weeknight chicken recipe a kick with curry powder and jalapeños. Serve with grilled pita, lettuce leaves, tomato wedges and cucumber slices.

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Thai-Style Chicken In Lettuce Leaves

Credit: © Christina Holmes
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In this healthy chicken dish traditional flour-wraps are replaced with lettuce leaves.

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Tequila-Mustard-Glazed Chicken Skewers

Credit: © Jody Horton
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James Holmes developed the glaze for this recipe while experimenting with homemade mustards.

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Mango-Glazed Turkey Breast

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Mango chutney makes a great glaze for turkey breast in this quick and easy recipe.

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Duck Breasts and Orzo Salad with Herb-Infused Olive Oil

Credit: © David Malosh
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"Infusing olive oil is a great way to add more herbs to your life," says Jovial King. (Herbs are rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients.) In this main-course salad, Marcia Kiesel rubs the oil on duck breasts and shallots before grilling them and also uses it in a vinaigrette.

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Lentil Soup with Smoked Turkey

Credit: © Quentin Bacon
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Simmering the broth with a Parmesan rind gives the soup an even richer taste than sprinkling the cheese on top.

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Duck with Miso-Almond Butter

Credit: © Chris Buck
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After experimenting with miso paste and flavorful Spanish marcona almonds, Stephanie Izard created a delectable nutty-sweet butter that she serves with meaty seared duck breasts.

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Citrus-and-Ginger-Roasted Chicken

Credit: © Keller & Keller
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Roasting the chicken with the skin on (removing it after cooking) keeps the meat especially moist.

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Michelle's Turkey Burgers with Lemon Mayonnaise

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This burger by Spike Mendelsohn is named after the FIrst Lady Micelle Obama.

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Puerto Rican-Style Turkey

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Chef Bill Kim makes this curry-and-chile-spiced marinade inspired by lechón, a slow-roasted Puerto Rican pork dish that he learned from his mother-in-law. Because the flavors are intense, it's best to scrape off the marinade before grilling.

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Green Goddess Chicken Salad

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Green Goddess dressing—a mix of mayonnaise, sour cream, herbs, anchovies and lemon—was created at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in the 1920s, as a tribute to an actor starring in a play called The Green Goddess. The creamy dressing is typically tossed with a green salad, but it's also addictive in Melissa Rubel's chicken salad, made with a rotisserie bird.

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Chicken Soup with Jasmine Rice and Ginger

Credit: © Deirdre Rooney
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There may not be any clinical proof that ginger helps fight colds or the flu, but this supereasy, gingery chicken soup will undeniably make you feel better.

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Ginger-Marinated Bulgogi-Style Chicken

Credit: © Kana Okada
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Bulgogi, the Korean classic, calls for slices of rich beef; this version uses thinly sliced chicken breast, which has barely any fat at all. The chicken is best served with rice and lettuce leaves for wrapping. Kimchi, a spicy, garlicky Korean pickle often made with cabbage, is especially delicious on the side and is loaded with beneficial bacteria known as probiotics.

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Thai-Style Duck-and-Green-Papaya Salad

Credit: © Con Poulos
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Andrew Zimmern's Thai-style salad tosses rice noodles and green papaya in a tangy-sweet peanut dressing that's topped with slices of warm, crisp-skinned duck.

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22 of 22

Colombian Chicken Soup

Credit: © Maura McEvoy
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Chicken breast adds plenty of protein but not much fat to this version of ajiaco, a cilantro-scented chicken soup that's virtually Colombia's national dish. Stirring in fiber-rich brown rice turns the soup into a satisfying one-dish meal.

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