Poultry in motion

Hey, Dad, if you're feeling like a little chicken, we've got a Father's Day meal for you.

Our Mother's Day Food section in May offered dinner with a dividend — roast beef, plus recipes for using the leftovers in quick weekday meals. Due to the response, we're continuing the now-and-later concept with a grilled chicken dinner for Dad. It's easy to throw a few more chicken pieces on the grill and use them in fast-fix meals later during the week.

On Monday, you can take your choice of three gourmet pizzas to impress your family: Chicken Pesto Pizza, BBQ Chicken Pizza or a Grilled Chinese Chicken Pizza. The pesto version uses a pre-made crust and the barbecue pizza uses French bread, so they take only about 15 minutes from start to finish. The Chinese version is the most complicated because you're cooking the crust on a grill.

On Tuesday, it's Chicken Alfredo Pasta; Wednesday, Chicken Caesar Salad; Thursday, Grilled Sweet-and-Sour Chicken (lower in fat because you're not deep-frying the chicken). On Friday, go with Chicken Fajitas. These can all be assembled and served within 30 minutes.

Boneless, skinless breasts are the most popular form of chicken enjoyed in America today, although other chicken parts (including dark meat) will also work in the other recipes during the week. Grilled chicken goes well with all kinds of side dishes— rice, baked or mashed potatoes, a salad — so choose Dad's favorites. You can use your grill for dessert by making Coconut Grilled Pineapple.

Chicken breasts cook quickly on the grill. But due to the low fat content and mild flavor, they can also turn out dry and tasteless. Grilling guru Steve Raichlen advises in his book, "How to Grill" (Workman Publishing), that they be soaked in brine beforehand. Raichlen says the salt in the brine enables chicken breasts to retain their moisture.

Marinating will also add moisture and flavor, according to "Grilling," by Williams Sonoma (Time Life Books). A marinade is usually an acid-based mixture (lemon or lime juice, vinegar, wine) with oil, herbs and spices. The following marinade recipe is a marriage of both ideas, since the salty soy sauce acts as a brine, while the vinegar and herbs add flavor.

Portion your leftover chicken in plastic air-tight containers or zippered plastic bags. For a family of six, plan on at least two chicken breasts for each weekday meal. (Roughly, one large cooked breast will give you 1 cup of chopped chicken. For most of these recipes, you'll need about 2 cups of chicken.) If you're grilling cut-up chicken pieces, you'll probably need about half of a chicken for every weekday meal.

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