Chicken Tomato Delight

This recipe was contributed, by CCAA Volleyball star (and Proto Strength & Conditioning Athlete) Jasmine Lavoie.   It's a tasty one!

olive oil
1 shallot
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
bruschetta mix (see below)
1 tomato
parsley

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat.  Finely chop the shallot. Cut up the chicken into cubes.  Add these to the frying pan.

Dice the tomato.  When chicken is almost cooked, add a few spoonfuls of bruschetta mix and the extra tomato.  Sprinkle in the parsley.  Cover and let simmer until chicken is fully cooked.

Equally good on it’s own, with garlic bread, or on pasta.  You can double the recipe add some chicken broth and a handful of cooked rice to the leftovers to make a nice soup for tomorrow.

Bruschetta mix is sold at the deli counter of the large grocery stores.  It’s pretty simple to make on your own though:

Chop up some tomatoes and onion in about a 2-1 or 3-1 ratio. Mash and chop a few garlic cloves.  Put everything into a bowl.  Drizzle some olive oil over the top and more salt than you think is right.  (The salt draws the juice out of the tomatoes and garlic so the flavours can blend.  Drain off the excess salty liquid before you use it.)  Add some pepper and plenty of oregano.  Mix it all up and allow some time for osmosis to do its thing.  If you wish, add some dried chilies and/or parmesan and/or basil.

Peach Basil Chicken Pasta

Great this time of year, with peaches in season, and fresh basil from the garden!

1 small onion
1/3 red pepper
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 boneless skinless chicken thighs (or one breast)
1 peach
basil
salsa (or a small tomato and hot sauce)
lime wedge

Start a pot of water for the pasta and heat some olive oil in a frying pan just warmer than medium heat. (The timing of this recipe works perfectly with Italian styles as they typically take 8-12 minutes to cook, but you can use whatever you want.)

Dice the onion and red pepper, and crush the garlic, then add to the pan of hot oil.  Dice the chicken and toss it with enough basil to cover about 25% of each die.  When the onion softens, add the chicken to the pan.

When the water boils add the pasta to the pot and cook.  At this time, stir a chopped and crushed peach (liquid and all) as well as a few spoonfuls of salsa into the frying pan.  Continue to cook the chicken-peach mixture allowing it to reduce until the pasta is ready.  Squeeze a lime wedge over the dish before serving.