What’s In The Kitchen Chicken
When my husband and I were first married we lived in a tiny, no-frills, apartment. It was not fancy, but we were saving money for our first home, and it served our needs. We had tons of fun there playing cards with friends and eating lots of good food. (I had all of those new wedding kitchen presents to use!) One night I needed to clean out the produce in the refrigerator. What’s in the Kitchen Chicken was born. I would take whatever produce I had with a little chicken and some kind of tomato product and serve it over something starchy. In minutes dinner was served.
This recipe is more of a method than a recipe. It is for the kind of cook who uses recipes only for suggestions. You can adapt it to the produce you have on hand and the kind of chicken you prefer.
What’s in the Kitchen Chicken
Ingredients: Choose from each category
Chicken-
Raw breasts, bone in chicken pieces, or cooked chicken meat
Tomato-
Crushed Tomatoes, Diced Tomatoes, Jarred Pasta Sauce
Veggies-
Pick from the list from what is in season or what you have on hand in your refrigerator or freezer
Onions
Mushrooms
Carrots
Celery
Green Beans
Spinach
Zucchini
Broccoli
Other veggies you have on hand
Salt
Italian Seasoning
Garlic cloves
Hot Pepper flakes
Oil (I use Olive Oil here)
Starch-
Prepared Polenta, Cooked Pasta, Cooked Rice
Directions:
Heat oil in pan over medium high heat. If your chicken is raw, sprinkle with salt and pepper and brown it. (It does not have to cook through at this point.)
Add veggies and sauté to brown slightly. Add chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, and hot pepper flakes. (1/8 teaspoon for very mild heat and up to 1 teaspoon for more heat.) Add tomato product and cover the pan. (This is when you add the cooked chicken.) Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer 10-20 minutes. Whole chicken pieces may take a little longer. Test the thickest part with an instant read thermometer. When it reaches 165 degrees F, it is done.
Serve over your starch of choice.
***Note***
This can easily be dairy and gluten free. There is no dairy or gluten in the main part of the recipe. Choose a dairy or gluten free starch for serving.
