Half Hour Chicken Creole

• nonstick cooking spray
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, fat discarded,washed,dried,and cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 12 cups chopped seeded green bell peppers
• 12 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 12 cup chopped green onion
• 3 -4 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil, lightly crushed,more to taste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves or 12 teaspoon dried thyme, lightly crushed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 14 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 12 teaspoon salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper

1. Spray deep skillet with nonstick spray.
2. Preheat pan over high heat.
3. Add olive oil, add chicken, and cook for 3-5 minutes, until lightly browned and no longer pink, stirring regularly.
4. Reduce heat to medium.
5. Add green pepper, celery, onion, green onion, garlic, parsley, basil, thyme, and bay leaves.
6. Saute about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
7. Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, cayenne, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
8. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. Fish out bay leaves, and serve over hot cooked rice or pasta.
10. Variation: We have also tried this using shrimp instead of chicken.
11. The recipe is the same, except replace chicken with 1-1/2 pounds unpeeled raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut in half lengthwise.
12. Reduce initial browning time from 3-5 minutes to 2-3 minutes, or the shrimp will get tough.

nonstick cooking spray, chicken breast halves, extra virgin olive oil, seeded green bell peppers, celery, onion, green onion, parsley, fresh basil, thyme, bay leaves, tomatoes, tomato sauce, cayenne pepper, salt, fresh ground black pepper

Taken from www.food.com/recipe/half-hour-chicken-creole-84985 (may not work)