Marinara with Bell Peppers and Chicken

One day this summer I started thinking about pasta.  I daydream about pasta often, but I decided that I wanted to make a pasta that was somewhat healthy, absolutely tasty, and rather easy.  I also wanted it to be something that I could make with just the ingredients I had on hand.  So - what did I come up with?  A marinara with bell peppers and chicken.  This is my new favorite dish.  I want to make it every week, but I am holding myself back.  So far, it's been every other week.  It's just so good and I love it because the leftovers are just as tasty or even better the next day.  Just look at it... ahhhh it makes me want to make it right now...

Here's what you need to make this dish:

- 1 pound whole wheat pasta (I used angel hair)
- 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts (because I can't stand bones or skin)
- 2 quarts canned tomatoes from your parents' garden.  OK - I realize that not everyone has this, so if I did not have this special and magical ingredient, I would probably use whole canned tomatoes and crushed tomatoes.  I'm telling you though - find somebody who will give you some fresh canned tomatoes from the garden.  It will change your life.
- 2 bell peppers (either red, orange, or yellow)
- 1/2 of a large onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- Olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Parmesan cheese

Let's get started.  First, chop up your 1/2 onion and mince the garlic.  While you're preparing that, put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your pan and get it warm.  When it's warm, throw the garlic and onion in it.  This is a sure way to get people thinking you're an awesome cook.  I've had people come over to my house when I just start cooking and they think that dinner will be awesome simply because they smell olive oil, garlic, and onion.  It is aromatherapy for me.  Here's the happy mixture just getting warmed in the pan:

Enjoy the aromatherapy for awhile until it simmers and cooks a little.  You want the onions to cook now, because once the tomatoes are added, the onions will not cook much more.  Here's what it looks like right before I added the tomatoes:

Now here's the magical ingredient!  Just admire the beauty.  Fresh canned tomatoes from my parents' garden.  My dad spends hours and hours getting the tomatoes ready and Lisa spends hours and hours canning the tomatoes.  And I spend my time eating this wonderful work of art.  I was going to learn how to can this summer, but the idea of working over steaming tomatoes outside while I'm already hot and pregnant did not appeal to me.  There's always next summer.

So, once the garlic and onions are ready, open the canned tomatoes and put them in the pan - juice and all.  Break up the whole tomatoes so that they are smooth - more like a sauce than chunks of tomatoes.  Scrape the good stuff off the bottom of the pan and just mix it all together.

As it starts to simmer, go ahead and season it.  Add the pepper, salt, sugar, and Italian seasoning.  Let it simmer on low for about 30 minutes.

Taste it as you go and adjust the spices as you want them.  I honestly did not measure the pepper, salt, sugar, or Italian seasoning.  I just threw in what I think I wanted and I estimated (for the sake of the recipe) what I put in.  Do what feels right for you.  Just don't over season - you don't want to ruin a dish.  Take it slow and taste as you go.  I like that saying... "take it slow and taste as you go"... maybe I should copyright that and put it on the front of my cookbook one day.  Or maybe I'm getting ahead of myself...

As it simmers and you're tasting, cut up your bell peppers and cut up your chicken.  I like to cut my chicken into strips.

When the sauce tastes just about like you want it, start on the peppers.  Put just a little olive oil in a pan and get it warm.  When it's warm, throw the peppers in and listen to them simmer and pop.  Add a little Italian seasoning to them.  The peppers have a nice smell of their own.

After a few minutes they should have some dark edges and get a little softer.  Some people like the peppers crunchy and other people like them soft.  Cook them how you like them.  I like them somewhere in the middle.  This is what mine looked like when they were done:

When they are done, take them and put them in the sauce.  Now I'm getting very hungry.

At this point, it's a good idea to start your pasta.  Look at that (somewhat) healthy whole wheat pasta.

Now it's time to cook the chicken.  Just sprinkle either side of the chicken with a little salt and pepper.  Use the same pan that you used to cook the peppers.  There is no reason to get another dish dirty.  That's just more work you have to do later.  If you need to, add a little olive oil in the pan.  Make sure that the pan is warm before you put the chicken in.  This way, when the chicken cooks, it will have some color.

Cook the other side of the chicken too.  I just did not take a picture of this.

Now it's time to assemble.  Get a good serving of pasta on your plate, add the sauce with the peppers, now add some chicken to the top.  Finally, top it all off with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese because Parmesan cheese just makes all Italian dishes better.

And there it is.  My favorite dish as of right now.  And I don't really feel guilty about eating it... especially when I eat it with a spinach salad on the side.