I often have trouble trying to reinvent chicken. It's particularly difficult with limited time and a 5-year-old with a picky palate. So one day I reached into my cupboard, grabbed several liquid items, threw them together in a bowl to marinate some chicken thighs — and, to my delight, it made a heck of a dinner.

I've since found that it tastes just as good with the breast as it does with dark meat. Seems the thighs hold the marinade a bit better, however. If you're doing just breasts, it helps to pound them out just before marinating. If time is limited, you can skip that. We're talking quick, simple, just five ingredients.

I've prepped this in the morning before work and let the chicken sit refrigerated in the sauce all day. Other times, I let it soak just a few minutes. Either way gives a nice result.

I usually cook a rice side dish while the chicken simmers. The honey and the balsamic in the marinade create a sticky paste that I like to blend with my rice or sop up with a baguette.

As for what to drink, the dish works with both a pinot noir and a white wine. Be sure to keep the wine in your glass and out of the pan, however. I once tried splashing some red wine into the sauce. It tasted awful.

Cheers, and here's to those accidents that work out for the best.