Bell of the Bowl! A Whimsical Dish...

Roasted Bell Peppers topped with Sauteed Chicken and Spinach (and Goat Cheese!)

This is a whimsical dish I came up with last night when I just wanted something light I could cook for myself pretty quickly.  It turned out even tastier than I could have hoped for!  Partially inspired by my Aunt Nancy's recent reminder on how delicious roasted bell peppers can be with just a hint of EVOO and sea salt, I decided to incorporate those into my "whimsical dish."  I also had some chicken breast, goat cheese, and spinach that wasn't otherwise spoken for, and this is what transpired!  This is by far my favorite recipe so far that utilizes no butter and no cream!

serves 1 - multiply per person

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast

2 handfuls of fresh spinach

2 bell peppers

just enough goat cheese to decorate the top

1 heaping tsp Steak seasoning (I use Kroger brand Grill Time, Montreal Steak is fine too)

 - if you don't have any handy,use finely minced garlic or garlic salt/poweder and add extra salt and pepper

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp spicy mustard (my favorite brand is Sanwich Pals Hot & Spicy)

sea salt

black pepper

1-2 tbsp EVOO

olive oil mister (like PAM olive oil - you can just brush EVOO if you don't have a mister or spray)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

1.  Line a baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper and spray or brush with EVOO

2. Finely chop your bell peppers lengthwise.  Arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet and spray or brush the peppers.  Coat generously with sea salt and black pepper.  Put in your preheated oven to roast while you finish the rest. (You can use whatever colors you have around).

3. Heat up your 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  You want just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.  WHile heating, slice up your chicken breast into small pieces that truly are bite size.  I like to get a little of everything on my fork for each bite, and keeping your chicken pieces small allow for that, as well as speeding up your cooking time.

4. Place your sliced chicken into the pan.  We're going to do all the flavoring right there in the pan.  Sprinkle on a little sea salt and move the chicken around to coat.  Next add your steak seasoning, mustard, and worcestershire.  Give it a good toss in the pan.  Keep moving around until evenly cooked.  (This shouldn't take more than 7-8 minutes if you're using small pieces).

5.  Just as the chicken is getting a a golden coating and about cooked through, take those peppers out of the oven and set aside.  Now it's time to wilt the spinach.  Add your handfuls of spinach to the pan with the chicken still in it.  Remember, spinach cooks down significantly, so overestimate the amount you'll need.  Wilting it in the same pan as the chicken allows the cooking liquid to be absorbed and maintain those flavors throughout the dish.  The wilting process should only take a minute, literally.  Keep stirring to wet and wilt all spinach.

6.  Now get it all in a bowl!  Layer your roasted peppers in first, then top with your chicken and spinach mixture.  The oils in the spinach will serve as a flavorful sauce or dressing for the dish.  I would spoon out the chicken and spinach rather than pour over to keep the dish a little less oily overall, but it's up to you!
Now just top with a pinch of goat cheese and serve!

** Some other suggestions for this dish would be to serve it over rice, or use teriyaki instead of worcestershire.  You could also improvise with whatever veggies you have in your fridge!  Or if you are not a goat cheese fan, skip it!  It was still healthy and delicious.