A slight variation on Chicken Marsala

Quick Description

This is one of the first "grownup" dishes I ever learned to make. Julienning (sp?) the carrots can be time-consuming, so I often will purchase the bagged, shredded carrots at the grocery store as a shortcut. It's not quite as good, but it's probably worth the time savings. Purchasing the thin-slice chicken breasts also saves you from having to pound out the chicken with a mallet. As is, the recipe serves two, so I usually double it.

Ingredients

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (4 oz each) 
• 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour 
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil 
• 2 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips 
• 1 small red or yellow sweet pepper, cut into julienne strips 
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
•  1/3 cup dry marsala wine (liquor store wine better) 
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried, crushed thyme (I use the latter) 
• Hot cooked linguine for on the side.

Directions

Rinse chicken; pat dry. Place each breast half boned side up between 2 pieces of clear plastic wrap.  Working from the center to the edges, pound lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet to 1/4 inch thickness.  Be kind, the chicken is your friend. Remove the plastic wrap.  Coat breasts lightly with flour; shake off excess flour and set them aside.

In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. (Don't let it burn). Add the carrot strips: cook for 3 minutes.  Then add the pepper strips, garlic, salt and pepper; cook and stir about 5 minutes or until crisp/tender.  Arrange on the two dinner plates and keep warm.  (You can also put the stuff in a warm metal bowl and cover with foil to keep it warm.)

In the same large skillet, which you have not yet cleaned, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over a medium heat; add your friends the chicken.  Cook the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes on each side or till no pink remains (pan frying the chicken can be difficult, because they will often start to burn on the outside before they're cooked all the way through, so keep a watchful eye) .

Lay the vegetables on the two plates and then place the cooked chicken on top.

Add marsala and thyme to the skillet.   Heat for 1 minute, scraping up the good stuff left from the chicken and vegetable cooking.  Once cooked, pour it over the chicken.

Presumably, you realize you should have been cooking the linguine at the same time so that it is done at the same time as your chicken dish.  Otherwise, you will feel silly. You can put melted butter and parmesan cheese on the pasta for flavor.