Family Recipes: Chicken Cacciatore

Yesterday, I edited my thesis. Evidently, passing the oral defense is not enough: I must then go back and edit certain parts that my committee thought were less than perfect. I'm not complaining, but it sort of puts a dent in the celebratory process when you still have a ways to go in graduation.

Still — I'm so close to being done! I sifted through all 125 pages of my paper yesterday, fixing each edit. With so much busy work to do, you know I was itching for a good distraction. Over the weekend I procrastinated by scrubbing down the tops of our kitchen cabinets, which were somehow amazingly filthy. Yesterday I didn't afford myself such a luxury (ha), but instead made an old family recipe that's one of those "set it and forget it" kind of meals.

Using the Crock Pot is perfect for when you don't have time to stir a pot all day. While I drove myself crazy erasing extraneous commas and adding more sources to my paper — and while Justin started his 6-week-long study crusade toward his Step 1 boards (eek) — a pot full of my mom's chicken cacciatore simmered in the kitchen. It made the whole house smell like my home growing up, which is a wonderful thing when you're trying to stay calm.

{Printable Recipe}
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts + 2 thighs/legs
2 small onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup white wine
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 sprigs thyme
1-2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Procedure

This is the best part — it's one step. Throw it all into the Crock Pot.

Simmer on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. 

Serve over hot buttered spaghetti, rice, or polenta
(we did the latter this time, but I grew up eating it with spaghetti).

Taking it easy and eating well are not mutually exclusive concepts —
even when you're a grad/medical student.

-Katie