Chicken Breasts with Tortellini, Peppers, and Onions - an Easy but Elegant Dish to Serve Company

There's times when you're having company over to the house and you think, "OK, I served them lasagna last time, spaghetti the time before that. I think last month we cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill with frozen French Fries. What the heck is there that will make my friends think I've spent hours and hours and preparing?" So you take out your cookbooks and old Food and Wine or Bon Appetit magazines searching for just the right meal. You find most of those recipes call for lots of expensive ingredients, fresh herbs, and really do take a long time to prepare.

Well here's Lchaim to save your butt. I've got a dish that appears to be complicated but which is very easy to make and will really impress your friends and family. It isn't too costly to prepare and will serve quite a number of people. It's easy to double to triple the portions. Choose different color bell peppers for a more colorful dish. I buy the packages of yellow, orange, and red peppers at Costco when they have them.

Ingredients:
3 (approx) large chicken breasts
3 Bell peppers (red, green, and yellow has better visual appeal)
1 Very large yellow onion
1 Pound (approx) tortellini (multi color for visual appeal)
Pesto Sauce
About 3-4 tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
1. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts.
2. In a very large skillet brown the chicken breasts in the oil till almost done.
3. Slice chicken breasts into strips about 1 inch wide and 3 inches long. Place chicken back in skillet.
4. Slice peppers and onions into strips about the same size as the chicken.
5. Place peppers and onions in a steamer and steam until peppers are slightly cooked (still crisp).
6. Boil water and cook tortellini until done (DO NOT overcook).
7. Place steamed peppers/onions and tortellini in skillet with chicken.
8. Stir in about 1/8 cup of pesto sauce (more if needed) and mix until pesto is evenly distributed.

Everyone has their own tastes so you might want to make this first to decide if you like more pesto. You can decorate the outside of the platter with greens and place the chicken, tortellini mixture in the center for visual appeal. Add a mixed greens salad with some fresh tomatoes as a side. Chill a nice Riesling or other white wine to go along with this and you're all set for an incredible dinner!

All you need to do is have the chilled wine, some smooth jazz playing softly in the background and have the kids upstairs or at someone else's house! Enjoy!