Balsamic Chicken

Balsamic Chicken

 

Ingredients:

1 Yellow Onion
1 Shallot
4 Cloves of Garlic
Chicken Thighs (anywhere from 10 to 15) or 4-6 Chicken Breasts
1 tsp Salt
Pepper (to taste)
1/2 TB Dried Oregano (optional)
1/2 TB Dried Basil (optional)
1 handful of Kale
1 handful of Spinach
1/3 cup of Butter (I used goat butter)
1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar

Directions:

1.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Put a large casserole dish on top of your stove and turn the burner to medium heat.  You will want to use one that has a lid for when it goes into the oven later.  Chop onion, shallot, and garlic in oil until the onion becomes slightly transparent.

3.  Place the chicken into the casserole to brown on each side.  I cut mine into bite-sized pieces as they were boneless thighs.  This recipe could be done with bone-in as well, or chicken breasts if you prefer.

4.  While the chicken is browning melt the butter in a small pot on medium heat.  Let the butter bubble and once it begins to turn a golden brown add the vinegar.  Whisk the vinegar and butter together.  Let the balsamic reduce (see picture below).  It will bubble quite a bit but that just means that it is thickening up.  Stir occasionally. 

5.   As you are waiting for the vinegar/butter mixture to reduce season your chicken with the salt and pepper.  We are trying to watch our salt intake in my house so I tend to go for less and let people add to taste afterward.  You may want to add more salt/pepper depending on your preferences.  At this point also add the dried herbs if you have them, this is completely optional, I mostly just like the way they look!

6.  As the chicken is cooking you will notice some liquid at the bottom of the pan as the juice from the chicken mixes with the oil you put in at the beginning.  At this point add the kale and spinach (this just happened to be what we had in our fridge, if you have just spinach, or just kale, that works too!).  It may look like too much at first but they will steam and practically disappear in with the chicken.

7.  Once your vinegar/butter mixture is complete pour it on top of your chicken and mix everything together in the casserole.  Place the lid on top and place it in the oven.  Cook for approximately 30 minutes.  The liquid will further reduce and the flavour will be absorbed into the chicken.  We garnished our's with some goat feta, kalamata olives and cilantro.  Yum!

This may seem like a lot of steps but once you get the hang of this reduction you may find it quite handy.  I've tried it on noodles, fish, chicken, etc. and it is always a big hit!  We had our Balsamic Chicken on quinoa because it really absorbed the reduction well.  I would also recommend rice or cous cous.