Balsamic Asparagus Chicken

2 large chicken breasts (I cut them horizontally and divide into smaller piece.  This makes better serving sizes since none of us eat a whole chicken breast)

Marinade:
1/2 C. balsamic vinegar
½ C. olive oil
2 tsp brown sugar
pepper (to taste)

Sauce:
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 C fresh mushrooms, sliced
3/4 - 1 C balsamic vinegar
2 C beef broth
1 Tbsp butter
pepper (to taste)

Topping:
12 asparagus spears
provolone cheese
mozzarella cheese

Combine marinade ingredients and pour in bag with the chicken breasts. Refrigerate for about 2 hours.


Sauce: Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Add mushrooms and saute for a couple minutes. Add remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for about 30 minutes or until sauce thickens and reduces to about 1/4 of it’s original volume (when it is done, the sauce should be dark brown in color.). Add a few Tbsp flour near the end if you want a thicker sauce.

While the sauce is simmering, place chicken in a lightly greased glass dish and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through). While chicken is baking, prepare the asparagus by steaming for about 4 minutes. Quickly remove asparagus from heat and drop in an ice-water bath. Remove chicken from the oven (when it’s finished) and layer on one slice of provolone cheese, a few asparagus spears, then one slice mozzarella cheese on each piece of chicken. Set the oven to broil and broil for about 3 minutes or until cheese is melted and starts to brown a little. Right before serving, spoon some of the sauce over each piece of chicken.