Balsamic Onion Chicken with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Approximate Cook Time - 1 Hour

Approximate Cook Time with 2 under 2 - All Day (half joking)

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 3 tablespoons of corn starch
• 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 2 Shallots (chopped)
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1/2 cup of balsamic vingegar
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 6 large sweet yellow onions
• 4 ounces of goat cheese
• 4 ounces of sun dried tomatoes (the kind that come in a jar and are marinated in herbs are particularly tasty).
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Peel and chop onions
3. Heat olive oil and butter on low heat in a large pan
4. Place onion slices in the pan for caramelization (this takes a little while, maybe 30 minutes or so). If you need to brush up on your caramelizing skills, here's a good video demonstrating the process.
5. Once onions have caramelized, set them aside in a large covered baking dish.
6. In a large skillet, heat some olive oil, butter, shallots, and garlic.
7. Add chicken breasts and saute them
8. Once chicken is done, place it over the onions in your baking dish
9. In a sauce pan, combine chicken stock and balsamic vinegar. Stir in corn starch to make a thicker sauce.
10. Pour sauce over chicken and onions in the covered baking dish.
11. Place goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes over the chicken
12. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes

This is truly a delicious meal. It's one of the best things I've cooked in a long time. While it's a relatively simple dish to make, there are admittedly a lot of steps involved. I have learned that with 2 kids under 2, cooking a meal that involves multiple steps will take me multiple hours. If my husband comes home at 5 o'clock, it's simply not worth the stress of beginning to cook at 4 o'clock. By that time the toddler is cranky and the minute I pull out the pots and pans the baby wants to nurse. So the solution for me is to prep throughout the day. In the morning I will peel, chop, and caramelize the onions (which is the most time consuming task when it comes to making this dish). Then when the toddler goes down for his nap, I'll cook the meal. Then half an hour before Ben gets home from work, I'll stick it in the oven on the warm setting.

So Let's chat...I'm curious how other mothers with young children cook...what tricks do you have up your sleeves? *You can participate in the discussion by leaving a comment.