My dear friend Molly recently asked for this recipe.  She likes to eat at Protein Bar in Chicago for quick, healthy lunches; her favorite is their Healthy Parm and she wanted advice on how to make it at home. While I’ve never been myself, next time I’m in Chicago, I hope to stop in and see how this dish stacks up against its inspiration. To stay true to Molly’s request, I kept the grilled chicken, but I’m sure it would be equally good with grilled shrimp. Marc and I have been eating it with toasted chickpeas and pine nuts to keep it vegetarian. I make the tomatoes and caponata in bulk on Sundays and then we can eat it for lunches or quick weeknight dinners until it runs out. Hint: it never makes it until Friday. Molly, this one’s for you!

Caponata
Roasted tomatoes
8 boneless skinless thighs or breasts (I like the dark meat)
½ pound parmigiano reggiano, grana padano, piave or other hard, salty, nutty Italian cheese (when I use cheese as a garnish like this, I buy just a little and use the really good, somewhat expensive stuff- it’s the big flavor of the dish)
quinoa

Marinade:
½ cup red or white wine (I used red- it was open and I don’t mind the stain)
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon salt

Marinate the chicken in the red wine. Let sit as long as you can. Or overnight. Heat your frying pan or grill pan to medium high. Once it’s hot, place the chicken in the pan. Cook until the thick part of the chicken registers 165 on the thermometer. It will taste best if you only flip it once.Quinoa follows the general 2:1 liquid to grain rule that rice does. Using broth instead of water will make the quinoa richer, but also saltier, so you may want to cut down on salt elsewhere if you go that route. Rinsing the quinoa and then toasting it in the pan before you add the water will yield tastier, more fluffy results. Once you’ve rinsed and toasted, add the liquid. Bring to a boil and then reduce to your lowest stove temperature and let it sit for 10 – 15 minutes. Fluff it with a fork before serving.

To plate:
½ cup cooked quinoa
1 cup caponata
1 chicken breast or thigh, sliced
2 – 3 roasted tomatoes
1 ounce of cheese; grated, shredded peeled or crumbled

Vegetarian option:
Toast a ½ cup of canned chickpeas per person in a pan with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. When they are almost finished, add a sprinkle of pine nuts and toast them for an additional minute.

Thrifty alteration:
If you aren’t up for roasting two kinds of veggies, you can always throw some chopped tomatoes in with the rest of the veggies for the caponata.