Chicken & Peppers

Plans this week got all wonky when I used the side items from my chicken meal with the steak (although it turned out great!).

So a quick stop at the grocery store for:
2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green)
Piquillo Peppers (they're the roundish, red ones - sweet/spicy.  But any moderately spicy pepper would do)
I had everything else in the pantry so here's what you do:

Chicken & Peppers  and Roasted Curried Cauliflower

1 pkg boneless/skinless chicken breasts

½ onion, thinly sliced half moons

1 red pepper, cut into strips

2 cloves garlic, minced (you can used the jarred stuff)

1 pkg grape tomatoes – halved

4 Piquillo peppers – drained/chop (skip the seeds if you want it less spicy)

½ tsp Thyme

2 C chicken broth (or white wine if you have it handy)

2 slices ham – small strips

(for the cauliflower: cauliflower, olive oil, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp crushed ginger, 1/2 tsp (or to taste) of curry powder)

Preheat Oven to 400

In a Dutch Oven, over med-high heat, heat canola oil until shimmering.

Sauté the chicken until just brown, pull out and set aside.

Add the onion, bell peppers & garlic to the pan and cook until softened.  Add the tomatoes, jarred peppers and thyme.  Once hot, pour in the chicken broth, get it back up to a boil and then add the chicken, put the lid on and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the cauliflower into 1/2" slabs, toss with olive oil, curry, ginger & garlic.  Put it on the rimmed baking sheet and cook on the lowest level in the oven about 20 min (handy – just put it in at same time as chicken) and turn it halfway thru. The cauliflower should be golden, caramelized and fork tender.

At the 20 min mark, pull out the chicken and check to confirm it’s done.  If so, pull out the chicken and veggies and set aside (pop it in a bowl and set a plate on top to keep in the heat), put the pan over med-high heat and cook the juices for 1-2 min to reduce a bit, add the ham to the sauce and heat through.  Pour over the chicken and serve.

Hmm… I might slice that chicken after it’s rested a bit and then toss it all together.

Serve alongside the roasted curry cauliflower. 

Big, robust flavors will trick you into thinking this is a big, heavy meal but it's actually incredibly light with low carbs, low fat and high in fiber.