I admit it, I have horrible eating habits. I love food, but not all food. Of course the food I love most is the food that is the worst for me and the foods I tend to steer clear of are the ones that are usually quite nutritious. Case in point, my two least favorite foods (as in a polite, “No thank you” every time I see them) are watermelon and cucumbers. I know many of you are groaning inwardly at this moment, or else your jaw has hit the ground. Not like watermelon? Is she crazy? Cucumbers? Who doesn’t like cucumbers? Well, I don’t. Sorry. But we’re not here to debate the merits of any particular fruit or vegetable, at least not right now. What we’re here to do is to celebrate the amazing dinner that my sweetheart and I made and devoured last night.

The man I love is incredible and multifaceted (he’s also the photographer who took that lovely banner photo). This wonderful man also loves to watch cooking shows and actually try out the recipes.  Well, lucky for me he caught an episode of Lidia’s Italy.  She was making Chicken Cacciatore and he was intrigued.  Off to the store we went in search of all the right ingredients. A short while later we were home and cooking. I was his sous chef, chopping onions and slicing gorgeous orange and yellow and red peppers. Before long the kitchen was filled with the most heavenly aroma, and our Chicken Cacciatore was ready. We had ours with pasta and wine, and it was incredible. The best part about it? The vegetables! I’m not kidding. They were so good, and we actually used a little more than the recipe called for.

Now I know that this meal isn’t “diet” food, but it’s delicious wholesome food and it’s a whole lot better than a lot of the garbage I’ve eaten recently. Besides that, there was plenty left over for dinner tonight and even more for tomorrow. I love cooking once and eating three times! If you try out this recipe I would love to hear your feedback. Enjoy.