Chicken Cacciatore

This dish is very family friendly and pretty darn light. I like to serve it with garlic bread and sop up the rich tasting juices.

4 bone in - skinless chicken breasts (the bone is important for full flavor)
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium white onion, cut in half and sliced thin
1 red or green bell pepper, sliced thin
12 oz white mushrooms, sliced thin
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of dry white wine (I like Chardonnay for this). You can use chicken stock instead...I guess.
1 can 14-1/2 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp dry thyme leaves
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 dry bay leaves
more salt to taste

*Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Then, heat the oil in a large heavy saute pan over medium heat. Brown the chicken meat side down, about 8 minutes. Remove the chicken from pan and set aside for now.

Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the onion and pepper, saute and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, and the onions are nearly translucent. Add the mushrooms cooking until the mushrooms begin to release their water and turn light brown. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes with their juice, thyme, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and salt to taste (about 1/2 tsp) and simmer the mixture covered for 10 minutes.

Return the chicken breasts to the pan and simmer, covered, until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 30 minutes longer.

~Serves 4-6

I actually decided a whole chicken breast is too much for one serving. So I have been using a big heavy knife and saw the breasts in half before I brown them in the first step.

You can also double everything but the chicken and serve the sauce over pasta.

Don't forget the garlic bread!