By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I’m getting excited about red maple trees. The air has taken on a new, subtle coolness, despite the sunshine during the day. And as I drive around my neighborhood, the apple orchard fans (I live on a street with an apple farm at the end of the road) are slowly winding their way in to buy bushel baskets of crisp freshly picked apples, jugs of cider and bags of apple doughnuts. The leaves in my yard are definitely showing signs of changing color, while the cherry tomato plant next to my front door is dropping the last of the hundreds of tiny tomatoes that it’s produced this year. The farmers market is revved up with lots of later harvest jewels—sweet bell peppers, bunches of beets, strands of garlic, a wealth of eggplants (ever see the small white eggplants that really look like eggs?), and a smattering of final heirloom tomatoes.

We’re still grilling on the weekends—and this time of year we’re actually more successful in getting friends over for an evening hanging out on the back deck. Summer is just so busy, but the fall seems to open up weekends a little. I’ve mentioned that one of my favorite ways to make chicken is the all-in-the-oven roasting method—with chicken and vegetables cooking away together while I’m doing something else. But before I have to cook everything indoors, I like to make big platters of grilled chicken. I team it up with oven-roasted vegetables—which really have a nice texture if you line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Of course, if you have enough grill space you can grill the veggies too—but this dual system allows you to make a lot of food all at once, with the great smoky flavor of the grilled chicken. And this time of year it’s not too hot to turn on your oven. Since I’m tagging this as an antipasto-style dish, you could add cubes of hard salami or thinly sliced cured ham to the platter. Set out some warm, crusty ciabatta rolls and let everyone make little sandwiches for themselves.

The footprint for this recipe is super flexible—basically it’s grilled chicken with your favorite late harvest veggies. Whatever looks gorgeous at the farmers market or in the end-cap at your grocery store that’s featuring local produce. I’m grilling boneless chicken breasts here, but feel free to substitute chicken drumsticks, boneless thighs, or cut up a whole bird so that you have both white and dark meat. The bone-in or dark meat chicken will take a little longer to cook, but the veggies will wait. This is easy to cut in half for fewer diners.

HARVEST CHICKEN ANTIPASTO PLATTER

Makes 8 servings

CHICKEN & VEGETABLES

2 packages (14 ounces) Just BARE® Hand-Trimmed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Fillets

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium red bell peppers, quartered, stems and seeds removed

2 medium red onions, cut into wedges

4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

2 large beets, peeled, cut into wedges

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

2 bunches carrots with tops, tops removed, sliced lengthwise into quarters

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

6 ounces Provolone cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes

16 unpitted Kalamata or green Spanish olives

Lemon wedges, if desired

VINAIGRETTE

1/3 cup olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat grill to medium-high heat. Lightly brush chicken with 1 tablespoon oil. Grill 8 to 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from grill, cut in half crosswise.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 425˚F, adjusting the oven racks so that you can get two rimmed baking sheets inside. Arrange vegetables on two parchment-lined baking sheets (don’t over-crowd them). Drizzle vegetables with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Roast vegetables, stirring a few times, for 20 to 25 minutes or until tender.
• Arrange grilled chicken, roasted vegetables, cheese and olives on a large platter. Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients together and spoon over chicken and vegetables. Garnish platter with lemon wedges.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

Chicken for supper is a constant at my house. I know that everyone will eat it and there are so many choices—from boneless, skinless breasts that are endlessly versatile to bone-in chicken legs that satisfy my kids’ need to eat with their hands. But as the family cook, I like chicken because it’s easy. I can whip up dinner in 15 minutes with chicken breasts or tenders if I need to. Or I can season up drumsticks or boneless thighs and pop them into a hot oven to roast while I make a pot of pasta or a quick sauce…there’s no question that “101 ways to cook a chicken” could be my mantra. So here’s a no-recipe-needed list of my favorite ways to make weeknight chicken, guaranteed to be healthy and just taste good, in about 30 minutes.

1.    Chicken breasts with almost-caramelized onions: slice up some onions and toss them in a hot skillet with some olive oil (throw in a clove or two of chopped garlic if you’re like me and can’t cook without them). Let them sizzle, stirring a few times, until softened. Push them to the side, then add boneless breasts to the pan, giving them a good grind of sea salt and pepper. Let them brown on one side, turn them over and spoon the onions over them. Cover the pan and cook on low heat for another 5 minutes or so. Uncover, stir up the onions, let them brown a bit more and serve.

2.    Chicken kabobs with teriyaki: use either chicken tenders, cut in half, or strips of boneless chicken thighs. Marinate the pieces (if you have a little extra time) in a bottle teriyaki sauce or just thread the chicken onto skewers (tip: if using bamboo skewers, soak them in water while you’re getting the chicken ready—this helps keep them from burning too much under the broiler). Broil the kabobs, brushing with the teriyaki sauce once, until the chicken isn’t pink in the center. Serve with whole-wheat couscous (which takes 10 minutes to make) or brown jasmine rice (which takes 20 minutes). My kids like plain old soy sauce on their kabobs, my husband likes peanut sauce.

3.    Salsa chicken: I love boneless thighs for this saucy skillet dish. I brown the thighs in a bit of olive oil with lots of chopped garlic (of course). Then I stir in a jar of chunky tomato salsa, some ground cumin and a touch of cinnamon, and a spoonful of honey. The savory, slightly sweet combo is delicious with some fresh cilantro leaves or toasted almonds or pine nuts sprinkled on top. I serve this with seasoned black beans and corn.

4.    Oven-roasted chicken and veggies: this dish can be any chicken you want to use. The key is cranking the oven to 425˚F. I’ll season chicken drumsticks, boneless breasts or thighs, or even a cut-up whole bird with lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil, then sprinkle on a combo of dried herbs (whatever I’ve got on hand in my spice cabinet). I’ll chop up a combo of onion, potatoes, butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, or other veggies I have on hand—toss them with a little more olive oil, coarse salt and freshly ground pepper. Spread in a rimmed baking sheet, topped with the chicken—the whole thing goes into the hot oven for about 30 minutes (unless you’re using boneless breasts, which only take about 15 minutes—just take them out and keep them warm—or bone-in pieces that might take a little longer than 30 minutes). I keep an eye on things and stir every 10 minutes or so. I serve the chicken and veggies either alone or over pasta if I don’t roast potatoes. The flavor options are unlimited, but I do love herbes de Provence and lemon!

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

Well, we’ve reached another annual milestone. Whether you have kids or not the weeks after Labor Day still feel like back-to-school. Depending on where you live, the weather has probably shifted in some way as well. For me, the sultry final days of August suddenly (and somewhat magically) reverted to cooler, sharper days. The kind of weather that perks up the appetite and makes me think about different kinds of cooking.

I do still have kids who need that daily school lunch—a drudgery that can be relieved if your school serves food that A: your kids will eat, and B: that meets your standards of nutritious fare. Some days I don’t really care—if it’s a chaotic week I’m just glad that the boys are eating SOMETHING at noontime. But I do try to stay on top of how many days in a row I fall back into the school hot lunch safety net. One of my troubles is that I’ve got a boy who has never been enamored of sandwiches that are packed ahead—too soggy. And another one plain doesn’t like sandwiches (even if they come out of my Panini grill!) So other options are a big decision come the first week of school.

A few years ago we “discovered” lunch box-size thermoses—I know, nothing new or novel about them. But these old-fashioned insulated containers are truly amazing. They do keep cold foods cold and steaming hot foods pretty darn hot. And my guys have always loved soup—perfect for the coming cooler, then down right cold days. Chicken noodle or wild rice soup are perennial favorites, but I like to switch it up with stewy kinds of chicken soups that are thick with vegetables, pasta and beans. Full of good stuff that the kids will happily eat, warm from their thermoses. Pack a few crackers, some grapes, and a cookie—and they’re good to go.

Make this thick, hearty and nutritious chicken soup to fill up your kids’ thermoses for school lunch. I warm up the insides of the thermoses with boiling water from the tea kettle, then heat up servings of the soup in the microwave. When the soup is ready, I pour out the water and replace it with the hot soup. The kids will be amazed that they have hot lunch, straight out of their lunch bags! My kids call soups like this one, that’s so thick it’s almost a stew, “stoup.” In the fall you can use all sorts of autumn vegetables—try butternut squash, parsnips or rutabaga for the carrots and celery—or your own canned tomatoes from a garden harvest.

LUNCHBOX CHICKEN & MINI PASTA “STOUP”

Makes 6 (1-1/2 cups) main dish servings or 8 (1-1/4 cups) lunch box servings

INGREDIENTS

1 package (14 ounces) Just BARE® Hand-Trimmed Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets

1 quart low-sodium chicken broth (4 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup diced (1/4 inch) carrot or parsnip (1 medium)

1/2 cup diced (1/4 inch) celery (1 stalk)

1 can (14-1/2 ounce) crushed tomatoes

1 can (14-1/2 ounce) diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained

1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed

½ teaspoon coarse salt

Freshly ground pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

½ cup uncooked mini pasta (stars, alphabets, acini de pepe, or rings)

1 can (15 ounce) cooked garbanzo or Great Northern beans, rinsed, drained

1-1/2 cups chopped Swiss chard, mustard greens, or spinach

Grated Romano or Parmesan cheese, if desired

INSTRUCTIONS

•    Place chicken in 12-inch skillet. Add 2 cups broth; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center (165˚F).
•    Meanwhile, in Dutch oven or large soup kettle, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Sauté 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
•    Remove chicken from poaching broth; set aside. Skim foam from broth; add to sautéed vegetables. Stir in remaining 2 cups broth, the crushed and diced tomatoes with juice, rosemary, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Heat to boiling; stir in uncooked pasta. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes.
•    Shred chicken into bite-size pieces; add to soup. Stir in garbanzo beans and greens. Remove bay leaf. Serve with a sprinkle of cheese.
Cook’s Note: If the soup thickens more than you like as it cools, stir in an additional cup of water or broth.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I’ve been a bug (so to speak) about food safety for years. And in the light of recent problems with food-borne illnesses, I guess I can’t say enough (and loudly) about how to safely handle and cook poultry. Here is my Chicken Safety 101 primer that should ensure you don’t have trouble in the kitchen.

1. All perishable uncooked foods have some microbes on their surface, from poultry and meats to eggs and veggies. Many are naturally occurring since our food comes from natural environments where all living things co-exist—including bacteria. And we can add to this, so washing your hands in hot, soapy water before and after handling food is top on my list.

2. Don’t cross-contaminate surfaces. You don’t have to rinse poultry before cooking it, as you’re going to cook it long enough to kill off any pesky germs. BUT if you cut up a chicken on a cutting board or carry it on a tray outside to the grill, be sure that the cutting board or tray is washed in hot, soapy water before placing anything else on them. I like to use an acrylic cutting board (rather than the large wooden board I use to chop veggies) when I cut up chicken, so I can just pop it into the dishwasher when I’m done. And if I decide to rinse off a whole chicken before roasting, I’m careful to wash the inside of the sink with—yep, you got it—hot, soapy water! I sanitize my sponges regularly, too, by popping them into the dishwasher or microwaving them for 1 minute on HIGH power.

3. Be sure that you cook chicken until it’s DONE. Using an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature of chicken is absolutely the best way to ensure your chicken is cooked all the way through, especially when you’re cooking a whole bird. Just insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh and don’t touch any bones—dark meat should be cooked to 165˚F internally. If the thigh is done, the rest of the bird will be too. Other simple tests to be sure chicken parts, like breast fillets or drumsticks, are cooked properly is to cut into them to be sure they are no longer pink inside. And when you insert the tip of a paring knife into the chicken the juices that run out should be clear, not pink.

4. If you marinate chicken for grilling, it’s okay if you brush some of the marinade on during the cooking process. But stop during the last 5 to 8 minutes of grilling, as the chicken finishes cooking. Always discard marinades, unless a recipe directs you to heat them to boiling on the stovetop to be served at the table with the chicken.

5. There’s lots of good information out there if you have more questions about safely handling chicken and other foods. Go to the Just BARE® website for links to great online resources. There’s no reason why you or your family should get sick from food you’ve carefully prepared in your own kitchen.