What are some of the craziest diet trends you remember? There was the grapefruit diet. The cabbage soup diet. Scarsdale diet. The cigarette diet. The Atkins diet. And even the Twinkie diet.
What’s the point??? I’m sure the main goal with dieting is to be healthy, but so many of the fad diets seem to ignore nutrition, balance, good health, and common sense.
Some people assume that a gluten free diet is another fad. Maybe it is for some people, but not all.
I am amazed by how many of my family and friends have switched to a gluten free diet over the past few years – for health reasons or because they just feel better without gluten. Even though this is not a “gluten free food blog”, one of my goals is to prove that there is no deprivation should you choose to live gluten free. Pastas and breads are readily available, and with a wide variety of flours in basically every grocery store, options are many.
This is another of those meals ready in a half hour. Quick and easy enough for a weeknight meal, but pretty enough for company.
In my mind, food has to be beautiful, in addition to being delicious. The more veggies and colours I can cram into a dish, the happier I am. Why have just red tomatoes, when you can have yellow, orange, and purple too?!? Roasted garlic adds warm flavour to basically every dish – chicken, beef, pork, vegetarian. Always have some on hand.
Chicken with Exploded Tomatoes and Balsamic Drizzle
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks and generously seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1 package rice pasta
- 1/4 c plus 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 heads roasted garlic
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 pints cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 c shredded basil (1 clamshell package)
- 1/2 c dry white wine
- 1 c balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- Fresh or shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Sauté chicken in a large fry pan in 2 Tbsp olive oil until done. Remove from pan, set aside, and keep warm.
- Heat 1/4 c olive oil in fry pan. Over medium-high heat, sauté the red pepper flakes and roasted garlic for a minute. Then add the tomatoes, basil, and white wine.
- Cover, and allow to steam until tomatoes explode – about 10 minutes.
- While tomatoes are steaming, heat balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar and bring to a boil. Allow to reduce to 1/4 cup.
- Prepare pasta according to directions (make sure you salt the water before adding the pasta), reserving 1/4 c starchy water before draining.
- Lightly crush tomatoes with potato masher.
- Return chicken to tomatoes and sauce, toss in the pasta and reserved starchy water, and heat thru.
- Top with mozzarella cheese and a generous drizzle of balsamic reduction.
