Chicken Cacciatore with Citrus Farro Salad

This endless Chicago winter tentatively holds onto some aesthetic charm for me however my mind wanders to warmer climes. With auspicious timing we are focused on bringing a little warmth into your home with our heart healthy recipes from around the Mediterranean.

We begin our journey in Italy not only because there is a lot to love about Italian food but also this is not an easy time of year to source flavorful, fresh, seasonal, sun-ripened ingredients in the Midwest or elsewhere.

My husband Graham recalls some advice from my scholarly late Father-in-Law when setting out to Italy on a backpacking trip at the age of 18. “These three words will get you by – Panne, Pasta, Vino.” (Bread, Pasta and Wine.) On a budget, he cooked up pasta and tomatoes almost nightly on a stove, with the occasional quarto of red wine. Our Italian Chicken Cacciatore (Hunter’s Chicken) recipe this week is a widely travelled tomato dish, which varies by region and pops up in France as a Chasseur.

Since Steven Devries M.D at the Gaples Institute introduced the “critical role of nutrition in heart health” in our post last week, tomatoes and whole grains are our target.

Tomatoes are a major source of Lycopene, an antioxidant noted to help fight heart disease amongst other things. It has been suggested that lycopene is more accessible for absorption when cooked. We’ve used Farro, an ancient Italian grain full of protein, as a substantial side dish. It is deliciously nutty with a good texture. While testing this recipe it became apparent that farro is not easily adapted for the slow cooker, so it is cooked on the stove top and tossed with a simple lemon and olive oil vinaigrette when warm.

If you’re not dining out on Valentine’s Day this Friday, may we suggest you sit back and relax while your chicken gently bubbles away in the background and open a good bottle of Chianti.

Italian and American grown canned tomatoes are a store cupboard staple in most households. We recommend that you choose a good quality chopped tomato and where possible in a carton or jar.

Prep Time 15 minutes     Cooking Time 4 hours HIGH or 8 hours LOW        Servings 4-6

Ingredients

2 tbsp light olive oil
1 medium onion/1 cup, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp flour
2 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, skinless * if you chose chicken breast reduce cook time by half
1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
28 oz chopped tomatoes, 1 large carton, jar or 2 cans
4 oz sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp dried Italian or Greek oregano
1 tbsp rosemary, dried
1 tsp brown sugar
1/3 cup white wine

Farro

4 cups farro – cooked
3 tbsp chopped parsley
1 lemon, juiced and zested
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a heavy bottomed skillet. Add the onions, celery and garlic and sauté gently for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to your slow cooker.

Toss the chicken in the flour and season with salt and pepper. Place it into the same skillet the onions were sauteéd in. Brown the chicken on a medium heat for 4 minutes, turning after 2 minutes. Add the chicken to your slow cooker.

Add the salt and pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, oregano, rosemary, sugar and white wine to your slow cooker and stir well to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hrs or HIGH for 4.

Before serving the Chicken, cook the farro in boiling water as instructed on the packet and mix while warm with the vinaigrette.

Zen Moment

“Italy, and the spring and first love all together should suffice to make the gloomiest person happy.”