Unless you are in the habit of consuming industrial-sized meat portions, chicken can be an important element in a healthy diet. Relatively lean, it is an excellent source of protein, zinc, B vitamins, potassium, calcium, and more. One serving is 4 oz. or ¼ lb. per meal, per person. This equals to a small, cooked boneless breast, or one leg and thigh. Highly active individuals may eat slightly larger portions.

Some nutritionists recommend shunning the dark chicken flesh, because it contains a bit more fat than its white counterpart. However, most of the fat in the dark meat is concentrated in the skin, or around certain cuts, such as the thighs. The skin should be discarded, and the fat, attached to any cut, can be easily removed.

Furthermore, dark meat consists of all of the chicken muscle tissue, which is rich in iron, while the white meat does not contain any. True, white meat, primarily the breast, is somewhat leaner, but tends to be dry and tasteless. To compensate for this, cooks often drown the meat in butter, oil, cheese, or mayonnaise, thereby adding, even surpassing dark meat in fat content.

How the bird is cooked determines whether the dish is wholesome or harmful. Some particularly unhealthy cooking methods are deep-frying, grilling (sorry, friends!), consuming the skin, or using chicken fat for cooking. Chicken sausage, or any sausage for that matter, is high in fat and unhealthy additives, rendering it a weapon of health destruction as well.

Chicken meat lends itself to numerous fabulously delicious and healthful possibilities, including soups, sandwiches, salads, or roasted, stove-top cooked and oven baked dishes. The liver, stomach, heart, neck, wings, feet, and bones, are also utilized, particularly in ethnic cuisine.

Cornish Game hens, are, unfortunately overlooked by many home cooks. The meat of these hybrid young chickens - weighing only approximately 2.5 lbs. - is lean, tender, and utterly delicious! The name is misleading, because they are neither a game bird nor are only the females eaten. They are a domesticated fowl, sometimes referred to as Rock Cornish, and mostly prepared by roasting. Because of their small size they require less time to roast — an added advantage.

Leave it to scientists to worry about who came first — the chicken or the egg - enjoy eating chicken!

CHICKEN SALAD WITH FRUIT AND NUTS

(2 servings)

½ lb. cooked chicken, bones removed

¾ cup pineapple, cut into small chunks

1 celery stalk, sliced

10 seedless grapes, halved

3 tablespoons walnuts, coarsely chopped

DRESSING:

2 tablespoons cooking olive oil

Juice of 1/2 lemon

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon dried tarragon

Salt

In a medium bowl make dressing. Cut chicken into bite-sized chunks. Add chicken and all other ingredients to the dressing. Chill for one hour.

BEST TURKEY OR CHICKEN MEAT LOAF

(2 servings)

1 egg

¾ pound ground turkey or chicken breast

¾ cup Old Fashioned oats (not Quick Cooking)

½ teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

8 pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped

¼ cup olive oil

¾ cup water

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce, divided:

½ cup tomato sauce

½ cup tomato sauce

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. In large bowl, beat egg with fork. Add all the other ingredients, except the tomato sauce. Add ½ cup tomato sauce to meat mixture, mix well. Transfer to an ungreased baking loaf pan, packing the mixture and eliminating air pockets. Level top with the back of spoon. Spread remaining ½ cup tomato sauce evenly over entire loaf top. Cover and seal tightly with aluminum foil, and bake 90 minutes. (While the loaf is in the oven, do some cleaning, reading the paper, or just relaxing…) Remove loaf from the oven, and let stand for 15 minutes to allow it to set before serving.

ROASTED CORNISH GAME HEN

(2 servings)

1 Cornish game hen

SEASONING:

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 teaspoon lemon peel, finely grated

Juice of ½ lemon

Salt and pepper

1-1/2 teaspoons oregano

Cut bird in half lengthwise; some grocery store meat departments will do that for you. Or, cut after roasting. In a small bowl, whisk seasoning together. Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Thoroughly rinse hen, and dry with paper towels. Carefully loosen skin from the bottom and spread part of seasoning liberally on flesh. Return skin to its original position. Rub the remainder of seasoning inside chicken cavity. Brush plain olive oil on entire exterior skin, including the cut side edges. Place on roasting dish in oven. Baste with oil after 30 minutes. After 45 minutes, place a foil sheet tent over the bird. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees, and roast for 15 more minutes.

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Judy E. Buss is a Syndicated Eating-for-Health columnist and blogger, Speaker, and Nutritional Cooking Instructor.