Balsamic Chicken is a versatile dish to which you can informally add leftover vegetables you may have at hand. It’s a good low-fat choice, too, with only just more than 4 grams of fat per serving in the basic version of the recipe (serving two people) given here.

The recipe comes from Erin Ferree of San Mateo, Calif., who contributed it to the “reader recipes” feature in Cooking Light magazine.

Ferree calls it a lazy-day dish, for when she really doesn’t feel like shopping or cooking; she keeps most of the ingredients in the pantry.

“It’s also a good dish to sneak leftover vegetables into. I’ve used spinach, zucchini, all kinds of mushrooms and green onions, and they all taste great,” she says.

Balsamic Chicken

1 teaspoon olive oil

3/4 cup coarsely chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, sliced

Two 4-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 cup sliced green bell pepper

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup sliced mushrooms

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

14 1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup hot cooked long-grain rice

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saut minutes. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned.

Add bell pepper, vinegar, mushrooms, Italian seasoning and tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 20 minutes or until chicken is done. Serve over rice.

Makes 2 servings, each of 1 chicken breast half, 1 cup bell pepper mixture, and 1/2 cup rice.

Nutrition information per serving: 376 cal., 4.3 total fat (0.8 g saturated fat), 32 g pro., 52.3 g carbo., 6 g fiber, 66 mg chol., 355 mg sodium.