SAINT CLOUD, Minn., Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- http://cookbook.JustBareChicken.com — More than 250 cooks and nearly 11,000 people who voted for their favorite 5-ingredient chicken recipes in the 2012 Just BARE Just 5 Cooking Challenge, proving that more and more people nationwide are celebrating simple cooking and living. Just BARE^® Chicken—a brand of all-natural, American Humane Certified^® chicken that offers no antibiotics, no added hormones, no animal byproducts and no unwanted additives—announces the winner of its second annual Just 5 Cooking Challenge with the release of its first-ever digital cookbook.

From 20 finalists representing 16 states, Marsala Chicken with Roasted Garlic & Caramelized Burst Tomatoes received the most votes and stands alone as grand champion. Submitted by Lindsey Bjorge of Spring Lake Park, Minn., the recipe will be featured in the January/February issue of Whole Living magazine. Five voters were also randomly selected and named Just 5 Cooking Challenge sweepstakes winners, each receiving a free Apple iPad^® tablet.

Available now online from desktops, tablets and mobile devices at http://cookbook.JustBareChicken.com, the 2012 Just 5 Cookbook is a busy weeknight dinner saver and fancy weekend entertainment planner. Twenty recipes from the 2012 finalists are included. Each one offers a unique combination of simplicity and creativity. Just BARE Chicken, whose mission is to provide natural, healthy chicken like nature intended, congratulates everyone who participated in the 2012 Just 5 Cooking Challenge.

"What people can love about this recipe collection is how simple, diverse and unique it is, with plenty of ideas to please family and friends," said Just 5 Cooking Challenge culinary judge and Just BARE blogger Lisa Golden Schroeder. "The most effective 5-ingredient recipes are the ones that use ingredients more than once during the cooking process—like using the zest of an orange in a light crumb coating for the chicken, while the orange juice is used in a vinaigrette dressing or sauce," added Schroeder.

Of the 253 original 5-ingredient recipes submitted, 30 semi-finalist recipes were kitchen-tested by Lisa Golden Schroeder and her team of experts and assigned a score from 1-20 points for appearance, taste and overall ease of preparation. The 20 recipes with the highest scores advanced to online voting on Just BARE's Facebook page, which ran November 5 – December 5, 2012. After nearly 11,000 votes from Just BARE's Facebook fans, Bjorge's Marsala chicken recipe was chosen as the grand-prize winner.

ABOUT JUST BARE^®: Just BARE is a brand of all-natural, Animal Humane Certified^® chicken that offers no antibiotics, no added hormones, no animal byproducts, and no unwanted additives. Just BARE is distributed nationally by St. Cloud, Minn.-based GNP Company (formerly Gold'n Plump Poultry), a family-owned provider of premium chicken products to retail, deli and foodservice customers throughout the Midwest and in other parts of the country. The company employs about 1,600 people and partners with about 350 family farmers in Minnesota and Wisconsin to produce wholesome, high-quality chicken. For more information on the Just BARE line of poultry products and tips on minimalist cooking, visit JustBareChicken.com or find Just BARE on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

Watch Just 5 Cooking Challenge culinary judge and Just BARE blogger Lisa Golden Schroeder share her tips for simplifying cooking at www.youtube.com/justbarechicken.

SOURCE Just BARE Chicken