Healthy Chicken

As long as chicken remains popular with health-conscious cooks there will be a demand for recipes that can enhance its mild flavor without turning it into a high-fat nutritional disaster. Chernetz, a freelance writer and former food editor at Redbook magazine, offers an array of appetizers, soups, salads and dinner entrees to fill the bill. The flavors of foreign and American regional cuisines add interest to dishes like oriental glazed chicken seasoned with hoisin sauce and Louisiana-style chicken sausage gumbo. Chernetz even turns Buffalo chicken wings nutritionally respectable by browning them in a small amount of oil and dipping them in a blue cheese dressing made with buttermilk and nonfat yogurt. Cooks pressed for time will appreciate the speedy stir-frys and microwaved dishes. With a bit of preparation, deviled chicken breasts flavored with honey, mustard, wine vinegar and tarragon can be cooked up in 15 minutes, and artichokes stuffed with chicken, olives and pine nuts need only 11 minutes in the microwave. This isn't a diet book, but no recipe exceeds 525 calories per serving, and all are given with clear, useful nutritional data. Hill is a dietician who writes for Food & Wine. (May)