Peppery Peach Skillet Chicken

This month's Improv Cooking Challenge was Peaches and Peppers - a flavor combination that sounded just like late summer to me!

This summer has been pretty busy and otherwise challenging, so I wasn't going to be up to doing anything insanely complicated, and I'm glad of that, because in my quest to find a simple way to bring these flavors together, I managed to come up with something that instantly went onto our list of favorites to work into the menu regularly.

I got my inspiration and starting point here, switching out the basil for Hatch chiles and some red pepper flakes, giving it a more piquant flavor balance that was both more to our taste, but also would meet this challenge.

It hits all the right buttons here - good protein, good fruits and veggies, and tastes rich and well seasoned without being overloaded with either fat or sugar. (There's a bit of each because moderation is a delicious thing!)

For the two of us it made one hearty meal for two plus lunches for the next day.

Here's what I did:

Peppery Peach Skillet Chicken Over Quinoa
serves 4

6 chicken thighs (boneless/skinless)
2 med. Vidalia onions, chopped
2 T. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
sea salt to taste
coarsely ground black pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
1/3 white balsamic vinegar
1 T. raw honey
2-3 peaches, pitted and sliced
1 lg. can fire roasted diced tomatoes with juice
1 can green chiles (I used diced Hatch chiles)

1 cup quinoa
2 cups rice

In a large, deep skillet, heat olive oil and add onions, cooking until softened and starting to brown (if you like, continue cooling on low heat for about 20 minutes to caramelize).

Push onions to the edges of the pan, and add chicken.  Season with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes as desired and sear both sides of the chicken.

The chicken will not yet be fully cooked inside.

Remove chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add minced garlic, and cook on medium for just a few seconds until fragrant, then add white balsamic vinegar (regular balsamic will also be fine).

Cook on medium for a couple of minutes, until the liquid has reduced by half.  Stir in honey.

Add peaches, canned tomatoes and green chiles to pan, and stir to combine.

Nestle chicken into the tomato blend, season again with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes if needed, and cover.

Let simmer for 15 minutes, while making quinoa:  combine quinoa and 2 cups water in a pot and bring to boil.

Reduce to low and cover, cooking for 15 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

To serve, place a a serving of quinoa in a shallow bowl and top with chicken and plenty of of the tomato and peach sauce.

Enjoy!

Because this was so popular in our house, I realized it could easily be made with frozen sliced peaches making it an equally good and satisfying meal deep in the heart of winter.  And I expect it will be!

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