Chicken

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

An elegant entrée in about 15 minutes — using ingredients you are likely to have on hand. Serve the chicken with mashed potatoes and baby peas or a Bibb lettuce salad for a balanced weeknight meal. Finish with a raspberry tart from the bakery.

Active time: 10 min Start to finish: 35 min

Active time: 15 min Start to finish: 35 min

Deviled is a southern term for a dish that is highly seasoned. To make life easier, have the butcher cut up the chicken, and use a small chicken — around three pounds — so that it will cook through quickly. If you're cutting it yourself, start by going along both sides of the backbone with kitchen shears or a large knife. Once the backbone has been removed, cut the chicken into eight pieces (two breasts, wings, legs and thighs); include the top third of each breast with the wings for a more generous serving. The chicken needs to marinate for at least a day, so plan accordingly. See how to joint a chicken.

The following recipe is our version of gai yang, the grilled or roasted marinated chicken for which there are many variations in Thailand. Although gai yang is traditionally served with only a sweet chili garlic sauce for dipping, we were so taken with the complex flavor of the marinade that we decided to make extra and turn it into a second dipping sauce. Both sauces offered here are simple and delicious, but the Cornish hens can easily stand on their own.

Using shrimp instead of chicken in this recipe makes for an equally delicious soup.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less, but requires additional unattended time.

This chicken makes a flavorful meal when combined with the Jasmine Rice and Carrot and Radish Salad . Steamed green beans and carrots would also make good sides.

In this recipe, tortillas are a supermarket stand-in for mandarin pancakes. Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 35 min

"Because my family loves this hearty stew so much, I included it in a cookbook I put together for my children," Joy Smith, Glastonbury, Connecticut. "It makes a comforting meal on cold winter evenings here in Connecticut, and it's a convenient dish that freezes and reheats well."

Some of the chicken's flavorful poaching liquid gets added to the dressing in this spicy Asian-accented dish.