Diced Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Eggplant

I'm always on the lookout for a one-pot meal that provides lots of texture, colour, flavour and if it helps  me use up some leftovers, it's an added  bonus.  This recipe comes courtesy of "Food and Wine" magazine, a staple from one of our favourite and most frequented establishments, the LCBO (the Liquor Control Board of Ontario for those of you not familiar with it. It has it's pro's and con's but we won't get into that here. ) We've often drooled over their recipes whilst flipping through the pages...but maybe that was because we were also consuming lots of their beverages and it was really just the liquor talking??? Tough to say. But seriously, they do a good job of making their dishes look tantalizing while also pairing them with delicious alcoholic beverages. It's a win-win situation I think :-)  I think that would be a fun job to have. I wonder if they get to eat and drink their subjects once the photo shoot is over? I should look into a career change.

Often though, their recipes have a very long ingredients list and they tend to be more on the decadent side (read not so low fat, low cal, low heart attack or low stroke risk)  so I've tended to overlook making any of them and just enjoyed oogling over them with a glass of wine in hand.  This recipe did catch my eye however. It gave me the chance to use up some leftover chicken that I had frozen and needed to use up before it became all freezer-burny (hate the freezer burn.) I also added some left over tofu for fun (because I didn't really have that much chicken left over, but I hate throwing perfectly good meat out simply because there isn't enough for a whole meal...call me cheap, call me resourceful, it's all the same.) Bottom line is that it's an easy dish to make and it's very flavourful...I did seem to go a little overboard with the "spicy" part of this recipe so next time I would maybe go with either the cayenne pepper or the chili flakes...not both...I had to take more sips of my wine to help quell the fire in my mouth ;-) Yeowzers!

Diced Chicken with Sweet and Spicy Eggplant
from a recipe in "Food and Drink" magazine Autumn 2013

Skill level: Pretty darn easy, not much chopping involved, main cooking method is sauteing.
Flavour level: lots! Tone down the cayenne pepper/red pepper chili flakes if spicy isn't your thing.
Serves: 4

1 eggplant
12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we had leftover chopped and frozen chicken plus some leftover diced tofu which I threw in as well- you can easily substitute all tofu for the chicken if you prefer.)
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced ginger
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 cup chopped onion (or shallots)
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp red pepper chili flakes
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
pinch cayenne
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp capers
1/4 cup water

Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro

Trim the end of the eggplant. Chop eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes.

Dice chicken into 1 inch pieces and season with salt , pepper and cayenne. Heat 3 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, garlic and ginger to pan and saute until just starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Remove chicken and set aside in a bowl.

Add remaining oil, eggplant, red pepper, onion, sugar, chili flakes, cinnamon, cocoa powder and cayenne to skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-6 minutes, until onions start to brown. Stir continuously to prevent spices from burning.

Stir in vinegar and capers. Saute for 4 to 6 minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Return chicken to pan as well as any juices. Add water, bring to a boil, stirring. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5- 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked and the mixture is thick, dark and glossy. Add salt and pepper and more balsamic vinegar if needed. Garnish with parsley or cilantro.


Cheers!