six to eight boneless chicken breasts        two cans cream of mushroom soup

two packets dry Italian dressing mix         two eight-ounce tubs chive cream cheese

two tablespoons margarine                     two cups white cooking wine

two tablespoons oil                                six cups cooked rice

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Preheat oven to 375.

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, combine margarine, oil and dressing mix over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook just until browned, which shouldn't take terribly long. (No, it won't be done in the middle, and that's as it should be.) Transfer chicken to a 9 x 13" baking dish and return skillet to stove. Pour wine, soup and cream cheese into skillet and stir until smooth. Pour over chicken. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the top is browned and bubbly. Serve over hot rice.

Serves six to eight if nobody gets greedy.

Hint: if your guests aren't sticklers for presentation, you can speed things up a bit by using chicken tenderloins rather than whole breasts. Reduce baking time to 30 minutes. 

big bag of tortilla chips

half-pound package of imitation crab, flake style

can of black beans, mostly drained

at least three cups shredded cheese

sliced jalapenos (optional)

fresh cilantro if you've got it

sour cream and/or salsa

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Preheat oven to 450 and move the oven rack to the highest position that isn't the broiler setting.

In a small saucepan, warm the beans over medium-high and then thoroughly smash them with a cooking spoon. (You could just use a can of refried beans, but I prefer the black ones... and this way there's no added fat.) Set aside.

Spread a single layer of tortilla chips over a cookie sheet. Drop spoonfuls of beans over the chips. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with another layer of chips. Top with remaining beans, chunks of crab meat, cilantro and jalapenos if you're into that. Top with more cheese.

Bake at 450 for about ten minutes or until cheese on top has melted. If you prefer them a bit more browned, put them under the broiler for a minute at a time until you like the way they look. (Not kidding about that minute thing. Ask my smoke alarms.)

Serve hot with sour cream and salsa. Serves one party or three or four boys watching sports.

a pound or so of boneless chicken      three cups of red enchilada sauce

a whole large onion, chopped            at least twenty corn tortillas

a tablespoon of garlic salt                  oil (preferably a non-aerosol spray can)

two cans yellow corn, drained           at least six cups of grated cheese

two cans black beans, drained           sour cream and black olives for garnish
 
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In a large skillet, brown chicken and onions in a tablespoon of oil and garlic salt. Chop into small pieces and set aside. Heat oven to 375. Spray a 9 x 13" casserole dish with oil and line with a single layer of tortillas. (I usually tear the last ones in half so there isn't a lot of overlap. I use it on the next row.) Spread with a thin layer of enchilada sauce. The rest of the layers go something like this:
corn and beans, cheese, tortillas, oil spray, sauce
chicken and onions, cheese, tortillas, oil spray, sauce
corn and beans, cheese, tortillas, oil spray and remaining sauce 

Sprinkle with as much of the remaining cheese as you like and bake until hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Serve with sour cream and black olives. Serves eight to ten adults or three teenagers. 

I started making this soup when I was a teenager and, over the years, my recipe's become a lot simpler. This one has all the good stuff without anything superfluous. I'm not looking to impress Emeril with it. I just want to help people feel better, and it seems to get the job done. (If you don't have time for all this but you want to help someone who has a stuffy nose and/or sore throat, skip over to the Quick Get-Better Broth.)

a pound or so of boneless chicken        a whole large onion, coarsely chopped

a tablespoon of olive oil                       AT LEAST eight whole, peeled garlic cloves

a tablespoon of garlic salt                     a couple tablespoons of thyme  

eight cups chicken  broth                     crushed red pepper                 

lots of baby carrots, quartered              more garlic salt to taste

lots of celery, coarsely chopped          

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Pour broth into a good-sized stock pot. Add vegetables and herbs and heat until simmering. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown chicken in oil and garlic salt over medium high heat. Chop into bite-size pieces and add to soup. Add red pepper to taste -- start with at least half a teaspoon, which is enough to create residual warmth without blowing anyone's head off, and go from there. Let soup continue to simmer until carrots are soft. Add more garlic salt to taste just before serving.

Serves six as a side soup, four as a main dish, or one sick person all day.

8oz very hot water               half a teaspoon of garlic powder

one chicken bouillon cube      pinch of crushed red pepper

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Mix all ingredients together in a mug and allow to steep for a minute or so. Sip slowly, breathing in the steam. Repeat at least four times daily (or as often as desired) until symptoms have resolved.

If you're interested...
the steam and the red pepper are natural decongestants. The red pepper and the salt from the bouillon help strip the gunk from your throat. Salt and garlic are powerful natural antiseptics, which can prevent your nose-and-throat junk from turning into an infection. Inhaled salt steam is also anti-inflammatory, which can help alleviate pain in your sinuses and throat. And regardless of whether you attribute any healing powers to the nutrient compounds found in chicken broth, nobody's debating its scientifically proven yumminess.