Recipe: Leftovers to the Rescue

Recipe: Leftovers to the Rescue

Besides technology, cooking is one of my passions. It's something that I do to expiriment with new ideas, to challenge myself to make something always better, and sometimes just to relax. I recently moved to a new house where I am no longer sharing a kitchen with several people and can spread out and really take advantage of the space however I please. This has lead me to renew my desire to setup a Sous Vide machine, and I even did a few slow-cooked meals in the crock pot. Those will be future posts.

This time I'd like to share a super simple recipe I whipped up on the fly when I needed both get rid of some chicken breast in the fridge before it went bad, and wanted a lunch that didn't take me out of the house.

New Kitchen Leftovers Pepper Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 - Chicken Breast, bite-size cubes or strips
  • 1 - Large Bell Pepper, sliced
  • 1 - Jalapeño, finely chopped
  • 1 - Small bunch of Italian Parsely, chopped
  • 1 - Large Heirloom Tomato, chopped[^1]
  • Olive Oil
  • Kosher Salt
  • Ground Pepper

Preparation

  1. Sear the chicken breast with a pinch of salt and pepper until mostly cooked through.

  2. Chop the bell pepper into thin-ish strips then cut those in half. Place a saucepan on high heat and when up to temperature add olive oil and bell pepper.

  3. When the bell pepper has some slight brown color and begins to soften, reduce heat to medium-high and add in jalapeño and parsely. Cook until all ingredients are soft.

  4. Add in the tomato and integrate it in, breaking up any large pieces to allow the dish to reduce. Lower heat to medium, simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. This should break down the tomato and integrate the flavors. Once the tomato is very soft but still has shape, add in the chicken and mix it in.

  5. Once the chicken has come up to temperature, simmer until the sauce is a consistency of your liking. Soupier sauce is better for pasta and a thicker sauce is better as a solo dish.

Alternate Preparations

The second time I prepared this dish I could not find a good red heirloom, so I picked up a meatier yellow one. I also had porkchops on hand instead of chicken. The preparation was the same but the result varied quite a bit. Instead of a sauce suitable for pasta, the tomato cooked down quickly and absorbed more of the Jalapeño flavors making it a spicier dish that could be plated with other elements and did not need a bowl to contain it. Of the two, I think I prefer the red version better, however the second could almost be used as an alternative filling for Fajitas.

This could also be prepared with shredded meats but I do not see it working well with ground varieties.

Serving Suggestions

For the saucier red version of the dish, the best way I have found is to dish it over a bowl of linguini or your favorite pasta. For the hearty yellow variety, it would work well with chilled side, such as a picnic-style red bliss potato salad. Please let me know any other serving suggestions you have and I will add them here as updates.

[^1]: Heirloom is preferred for flavor. I used a juicy red tomato the first time I made this and a more meaty yellow tomato the second time. The kind of tomato determines the kind of end product. For pasta sauce, go juicy and red. For a stand-alone dish, meaty is better. See Alternate Preparations for more information.