Chicken is an extremely versatile meat that is fairly low in fat providing the skin is removed. A dish like Chicken Provencal has several different vegetables as an integral part. Vegetables such as aubergine and courgettes, also known as egg plant and zucchini, conjure up images of Provence, as do garlic and fresh thyme. Some shops sell fresh garlic as well as dried garlic.  Try to always choose fresh garlic if available.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breast fillets, skin removed
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium aubergine
• 1OO g (4 oz) courgettes
• 5O g (2 oz) mushrooms
• 1 red pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• fresh thyme
• black olives – to garnish
• freshly ground black pepper

Cooking instructions:

Cut the chicken into small pieces. Chop the onion, aubergine, courgettes, mushrooms and red pepper. Put the onion and aubergine into a large pan with the chicken, tomatoes, garlic and some sprigs of fresh thyme. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the courgettes, mushrooms and red pepper and cook for a further 10 minutes. Discard the sprigs of thyme. Serve the Chicken Provencal with rice. Garnish it with black olives and add freshly ground black pepper.