This meal is the biggest performance trick ever!  If you are having guests over, this dish sounds like you have skills beyond the norm.  In actuality, it is simple, quick, and tastes like summer on an Italian vineyard; absolutely bursting with ripe peach and tangy balsamic.  Major bonus, if you are trying to eat clean, this is your meal!

If your family, friends, or dining buddies are not so into the bold taste of balsamic this is a great introductory meal for that.  I would cut the amount of balsamic vinegar in half to start with and then add more when you make the dish again. I use thin cut chicken to speed up the cooking time, it works wonderfully for this purpose.

Summer is a great time to make this meal, as peaches are in season, that makes their flavors luscious and their price perfect for your budget.  Buying foods in season is a great way to keep your budget in check.  The farmer’s market is waiting for you, but make sure you talk to your farmer to see if they grew the peaches and where exactly they came from.  Some venders at the farmer’s markets will substitute foods with items they bought right at the grocery, not to be tricky, but to balance out their offerings. Locally grown food is going to have the most nutrients in them for you.

Nutritionally this meal is packed with essential vitamins and minerals your body needs! The Balsamic Vinegar is going to be great for your immune system and your gut health.  Gut health is such a hot buzz word these days, but it is very important to your overall health.  If your body is not digesting foods properly, it doesn’t absorb the nutrients it should, and then you crave crazy things because you are malnourished…yes, you can eat burgers and fries all day and be completely mal-nourished.  The peaches and tomatoes in this recipe offer Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, lycopene (an antioxident from cooked tomatoes not in raw tomatoes!) and water.  My children and my students leave me knowing that water is the answer to most of their issues; they say “I have a headache”, my answer is, have you had any water today?;  “I am exhausted” my answer is have you had any water today…they know what I’m going to say and I’m sure as they become adults they will really understand what I am saying more..water is powerful to our health.

I leave the skins on the peaches so that you get some fiber from the fruit.  Nature made that fruit for us and every part of it is useful to our nutrition! I could go on forever, real food, from the earth is amazing for our bodies!

You need to make this meal now, peaches are ripe in the South and this is so very delicious and quick, I bet you make it a few times before summer is over! Enjoy!

Peach Balsamic Chicken

Servings: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium  Vidalia onion, sliced
4 thin cut chicken breast

Adobo seasoning and pepper
2 cloves garlic , minced

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
2 medium peaches sliced (ripe, if they are not ripe, toss with 2 Teaspoons of sugar)
4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil ribbons

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion and saute 3 minutes
3. Add chicken, season with Adobo Seasoning and pepper and cook until golden and browned, about 3 minutes per side.
4. Remove chicken from skillet and transfer to a plate, while leaving oil and onions in skillet (if you don’t have much oil left you can add another 1/2 Tbsp).
5. Add garlic  and tomatoes to skillet and saute 20 seconds (you can push onions back to center if you haven’t already).
6. Add balsamic vinegar and cook and stir until reduced by half, about 1 minute.
7. Stir in honey then add in peaches, season lightly with salt and pepper.
8. Return chicken to skillet, nestling between peaches and tomatoes (you can lift some of the peaches and tomatoes over the chicken to create more room),
9. Cover skillet with lid, reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer until chicken has cooked through

Top with fresh basil and serve with pasta.