Summer Peach Chicken with spicy mixed grains

My mom always says I could cook a meal with roadkill and a few things from the pantry.  While I have never actually cooked roadkill (or any other strange protein for that matter), I do enjoy the journey of making a dish as I am creating it.  Hopefully I will be better at remembering them now.

Summer Peach Chicken
This is a light chicken dish I came up with after being inspired by an episode of Rachael Ray.  Luckily, I had everything I needed on hand.  I like to pre-portion my meats into freezer bags for easy marinading and freezing.  I love mixing the sweet with the spicy, and this is a great way to kick off the summer!

Ingredients:
3 chicken breasts
1/2 peach, sliced
1 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 c white wine
For the marinade:
2 tsp cumin
2 shakes turmeric
2-3 shakes cayenne pepper
1 TBSP parsley
2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp pepper
1 TBSP molasses
1/4 c sugar

Pound chicken breasts until thin and tender.  Mix all marinade ingredients and chicken.  Set aside 30 mins.
Heat oil on medium-high in a pan and place breasts in.  Sear one side 2-3 minutes and then turn.  Add diced onion and peach slices and brown them while the second side cooks. Add wine and reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 5-10 minutes.

 Spicy Mixed Grains
This dish is about exploring new grains.  I am not a carb-lover.  I generally tend to find them to be bland and mushy.  I love the varied textures of this dish that come from the mixed grains and fruit and vegetables.  A few words on nutrition: quinoa is a delicious seed that is the only vegetable source of complete, high-quality protein.  It provides a nice crunch even when it is fully cooked.

Coconut oil, though higher in saturated fats than olive oil, still has a ton of unsaturated fat, and the saturated fat in coconut oil is an improvement from animal saturated fats.  I won't get into the details, but they are also alleged to be anti-microbial in nature. Just make sure you buy extra-virgin, and from a reputable source.  If it still makes you uncomfortable, then go ahead and use your extra-virgin olive oil.

Ingredients:
 3 c chicken broth
1 c white wine
1 TBSP molasses
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 shakes cayenne pepper
1/2 peach, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 TBSP coconut oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/4 c Farro
1/4 c Wheat Berries
1/4 c Quinoa
1/2 c rice
1/2 c lentils

In a 2-quart saucepan, put chicken broth, cinnamon stick, molasses, peach and cayenne pepper.  Simmer 10-15 minutes.
In a dry, hot pan, toast the Farro, wheat berries, quinoa, and rice until it looks a little dark and smells nutty (about 5 minutes).  The quinoa will pop sporadically.  Keep turning the grains so they cook evenly.  push the grains to one side and add the oil with the onion and celery.  Mix together and add the wine.  Reduce heat and cook until wine is nearly gone.
Remove cinnamon stick from the pot and pour contents of the pan (grains and veggies) into the chicken stock.  Add the lentils.
Cook until water is mostly absorbed and each type of grain is tender.  Remove from heat and mix in tomato.  Serve.


I had this with a mixed salad with a few peaches and balsamic vinegar on top.  It was so good we were fighting over the leftovers for lunch!