Sauceless Sauce is Simply Easy; now say that three times fast.

After defrosting a container of my Vegetarian Pasta Sauce to put over ravioli, I suddenly got a craving for Chicken Parmigiana. Big problem though, I was not in the mood for all the work and mess it encompassed. So what to do, what to do???

Heh, then it hit me; deconstruct the chicken parmigiana; and leave out all the frying and mess. Basically I created a fresh "sauce" from diced and lightly sauteed vegetables to go over seasoned chicken breasts that were baked in the oven. Hardly any oil used, no heavy breading; just a light, clean taste over moist and tender poultry. Now anyone who is diabetic, like myself, will love this recipe; and I can tell you that two hours after eating the meal, my blood sugar was only 98 which is tremendously good!

Now when cooking the tomatoes in the skillet, if there is still a lot of moisture left; turn up the heat to medium and let the liquid reduce by half. But watch it! You don't want the vegetables to brown or burn. Enjoy!

Sauceless Sauce Over Chicken

Ingredients:

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning mix
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp each ground black pepper and salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion and multicolored red bell peppers (no green bell peppers)
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 cup diced tomatoes, drained
1 Tbsp minced garlic
¼ tsp each ground black pepper and salt
Shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375F and line jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Season both sides of chicken with seasoning mix, garlic powder ½ teaspoon each of pepper and salt. Bake for 20 minutes.

While chicken is baking; heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-low heat; add in onion and bell peppers. When vegetables just begin to soften, about 7-8 minutes, add in mushrooms; cook for 5 minutes. Add in tomatoes, garlic and remaining pepper and salt; mix thoroughly and let cook till all is heated through. Vegetables will be ready at the same time the chicken is fully cooked. Serve vegetable mixture over chicken breasts; sprinkle shredded cheese over all.

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour