Chicken Recipes - Honey Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken Recipes：A lemon and honey mixture glazes these delicious baked chicken legs. This is a quick meal to fix, and it's easy on the budget. Serve this chicken with rice, noodles, or potatoes.

Ingredients:

    * 2 pounds chicken drumsticks
    * 2 tablespoons butter
    * 2 tablespoons olive oil or Canola oil
    * 1/2 cup flour
    * 1 1/2 teaspoons Creole seasoning or a seasoned salt blend
    * 1/3 cup honey
    * 1/4 cup brown sugar
    * 4 tablespoons lemon juice
    * 2 teaspoons soy sauce

Preparation:
Wash chicken and pat dry. Toss in a food storage bag with the flour and Creole seasoning.

Melt butter with olive oil; pour into an 11x7-inch baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.

Arrange chicken in the baking dish, turning to coat with the butter mixture. Bake for 30 minutes.

In a saucepan, heat honey with brown sugar, lemon juice, and soy sauce, stirring to blend.
Pour the honey mixture over the chicken pieces and return to the oven. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes longer, turning the chicken pieces every 10 to 15 minutes.
Serves 4.

Chicken Recipes Series

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Plums Are New Super-food

Plums are being heralded as the new "super-food" by scientists. They found the purple fruit matched or exceeded blueberries in antioxidants and phytonutrients, which help prevent disease.

Researcher Dr David Byrne, of AgriLife Research, said tests revealed one plum contains about the same amount of antioxidants as a handful of blueberries. Antioxidants are molecules that sweep through a body looking for free radicals to knock out. Free radicals are atoms or molecules that lurk where diseases like cancer and heart disease are found. Fellow scientist Dr Luis Cisneros, who helped with the Texas-based research, said: "Blueberries have some stiff competition. People tend to eat just a few blueberries at a time - a few on their cereal or maybe as an ingredient mixed with other fruit in a fruit salad. But people will eat a whole plum at once and get the full benefit."

Catherine Collins, principal dietition at London's St George's Hospital, welcomed the research.

She said: "Plums are very good for us and they are fairly cheap.

"If everyone was eating two or three small plums a day that would be great. Many of the healthy chemicals and antioxidants in fruit and vegetables are in the different colour agents and so people should try to eat a rainbow of different coloured fruit.

"Plums are also low in calories and fat free. The important thing is not to peel your plums - you must eat the skin because that's where many of the colour agents and antioxidants are."

The US team examined the full content of plums then tested the effect of the compounds they found on breast cancer cells and cholesterol in the lab. The scientist carried further research which threw up information which they hope can be used for breeding efforts to produce better fruit.

Dr Byrne noted that one benefit the team found was that the phytonutrients in plums inhibited breast cancer growth without adversely affecting normal cell growth. He said this type of research needs further study.

Dr Cisneros added blueberries, peaches and nectarines have similar benefits to plums.

Vegetables and Fruits: Vitamin, antioxidant and fiber powerhouses

Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and are packed with vitamins, minerals, protective plant compounds and fiber. They are a great source of nutrients and vital for a healthy diet.

Fruits and vegetables should be part of every meal, and be your first choice for a snack. Eat a minimum of five portions each day. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods help protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases.

Greens: Dark leafy green vegetables are a vital part of a healthy diet since they are packed with nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, and Vitamins A, C, E and K. Greens help to strengthen the blood and respiratory systems. They are currently the most lacking food in the American diet. Be adventurous in your choice of greens: kale, mustard greens, broccoli, Chinese cabbage are just a few of the many options.

Sweet Vegetables: Naturally sweet vegetables are an excellent way to add healthy sweetness to your meals and reduce your cravings for other sweets. Some examples of sweet vegetables are corn, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes or yams, winter squash, and onions.

Fruit: Eating a wide variety of fruit is another very healthy part of any diet. They provide us with beneficial properties such as natural sugars, fiber, Vitamins and antioxidants. Choose fresh or frozen, and focus on variety. Berries are cancer-fighting, apples provide fiber, oranges and mangos offer vitamin C, and so on.

Go for the brights: The brighter, deeper colored fruits and vegetables contain higher concentrations of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Avoid: Fruit juices can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar per cup; avoid or dilute with water. Canned fruit often contains sugary syrup, and dried fruit, while an excellent source of fiber, can be high in calories. Avoid fried veggies or ones smothered in dressings or sauces – you may still get the vitamins, but you’ll be getting a lot of unhealthy fat and extra calories as well.

Recipe: Prawn and Noodle Stir-Fry

After a busy day at work or with the family, the last thing most of us feel like is spending hours preparing and cooking an evening meal.

Unless you want to live on ready-made supermarket dishes (an expensive and not always healthy option), the solution is to have a few simple recipes up your sleeve which, after a practice session or two, you can whip up in no time at all.

The beauty of these recipes is that you won't need to spend ages shopping for them either. Most of the ingredients are store-cupboard items, meaning that all you need to do is grab a few fresh extras when required.

And although all the recipes serve two, they can easily be increased to serve four or more.

I've also tried to keep the cooking part really simple - which, of course, cuts down on the washing up, leaving you more time to relax and wind down after a busy day.

INGREDIENTS

2 strips/120-150g of dried medium egg noodles
2tbsp sesame oil
1/2-1 red chilli, seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2-3cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
200g raw, peeled tiger prawns
100g tenderstem broccoli, cut into smallish pieces
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
2 handfuls of sugarsnap peas
1 small courgette, cut into thin pieces
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into thin pieces
4 spring onions, cut into 2cm lengths
3tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
1 1/2tbsp dark soy sauce
1 1/2tbsp runny honey
1tbsp toasted sesame seeds

METHOD

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions and drain. Heat 1tbsp of the sesame oil in a wok on a high setting and add the chilli, garlic and ginger. Cook for 30 seconds before adding the prawns. Stir-fry the prawns until they are pink and then remove them from the wok and keep to one side.
Add the remaining 1tbsp of oil to the wok over a high heat, and add the broccoli, red pepper, sugarsnap peas, courgette, carrot and spring onion. Stir-fry for a few minutes, until the vegetables are starting to go tender but retain some crunch.
Add the rice wine or sherry, soy sauce and honey. Turn the vegetables in the wok, cooking for a minute, return the prawns to the pan and add the cooked noodles. Toss around until the noodles are heated through. Scatter on the sesame seeds and serve straight away.

TOP TIP

Thin strips of chicken, beef or pork can be used as an alternative to prawns.

Watermelon

Scientific Name: Citrullus Vulgaris

Biological Background: The fruit of an annual vine belonging to the squash and melon family. Watermelon originated in Africa and has been cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean region, Egypt and India.

Nutritional Information: One slice of watermelon (480 g) contains 152 calories, 3 g protein, 34.6 g carbohydrates, 2.4 g fiber, 560 mg potassium, 176 mg vitamin A (RE), 47 mg vitamin C, 0.3 mg thiamin, 0.1 mg riboflavin, and 0.96 mg niacin.

Pharmacological Activity: Watermelon is rich in lycopene, glutathione and vitamin C. It has great activity against cancers and some antibacterial, anticoagulant activity.

Eating Tips: Choose watermelon with a deep red color.