four boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 medium onion cut in half and sliced

four large cloves of garlic

1 to 2 carrots grated

1/2 cup diced celery (if there are some leaves on the stalks, even better)

1/4 cup soya sauce

1 cup tomato sauce (I had a jar in the fridge that was partially used for pizza making a couple of weeks ago.  It had some heat which added a bit of kick to my meal)

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. poultry spice

1 tsp. corn starch dissolved in 1 TBLSP water

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slice chicken breasts cross wise

slice onion, peel garlic and dice and chop celery

In your French/Dutch or other HEAVY pan/oven melt on low heat, 1 TBLSP butter and 1 TBLSP grapeseed or other light oil.

saute vegetables on medium heat for about four minutes.  Meanwhile, salt and pepper the chicken

move vegetables to one side of the pan and add chicken.  turn heat to medium high and saute.  I did not coat my chicken in flour but you can do that either before you put it in the pan or you can sprinkle it on as you are cooking the chicken.  About 1 TBLSP.  It isn’t necessary but does make the chicken brown which will in turn add additional flavour.

Cook the chicken for about five minutes and then stir together with the vegetables at the side of the pan.  Also, add grated carrots.  Stir and cook for another five minutes.

Add Tomato Sauce, soya sauce and stir

Add chicken stock.  You already know that I keep stock in my freezer.  As you can see, I did not take time to thaw it.  Just ran some warm water over the yogurt container I had frozen it in and dumped it into the pot.  No problem.  If you don’t have homemade stock, add some store bought.  Stock is a staple at my house.  I am rarely without some kind, whether homemade or a brand from the store.  Because I have a thing about chicken soup and stock being very healthy for us, I either make my own from mennonite, free range chickens or I buy organic in the cartons from President’s Choice.

Put the lid on the pot and continue cooking on medium until it comes to a boil.  reduce heat to wherever it needs to be so that you have a nice gentle simmer but you can see some action.  Cook for 20 minutes.

If you have added flour to your chicken you won’t need to add corn starch.  If you skipped the flour part, mix up the corn starch mixture as suggested in the ingredients.  Stir in and simmer for another two to three minutes.

While your chicken is simmering for the 20 minutes (and if you aren’t quite ready after 20 minutes just turn your stove to low and leave it there while you do your final prep.) cut up three large or four medium  potatoes and put them in a pot to boil.  Once they come to a boil, turn them to medium and continue cooking until soft.

Drain the potatoes and add 2 TBLSP. butter

With two knives, roughly smash potatoes by cutting into them

add 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.  Stir to mix well.

Add 1 cup grated parmesan cheese and stir well.

I serve meals like this in pasta bowls since the sauce is quite runny.  If you like it thicker, stir in a second tsp. of corn starch dissolved in water.

If you like more vegetables, add to your vegetable stage.  Maybe you want to serve a green salad first.  If you don’t have tomato sauce on hand but you do have some Italian tomatoes, add them.  Adjust your thickening as needed.  It’s better to add thickening in stages rather than to assume you will need double or triple what you thought you would need.  Maybe you would prefer to serve the chicken with rice instead of potatoes.  There are no rules when it comes to serving a meal, except that it should be cooked with pleasure and served with love.  Add or subtract whatever you wish.  Give it a try.  If you don’t love what you tried, change it up the next time around.

 

Enjoy