Monterrey Chicken

 Thomas has been in San Jose for over a month.  That kind of means that I don't cook too much.  It's not that I eat out more, necessarily, but my meals are more like grilled cheese sandwiches and simple pastas that aren't too worth blogging about.

However, I was in the mood to make something the other day.  Anything.

Luckily, there's always chicken in the house.  However, I never label it when I freeze it, so sometimes it's a surprise.

 Maybe not a big surprise, since I always get boneless and skinless, but it's more of a surprise about if it's thighs or breasts, since my freezer and zip lock bags never really let me know what I'm grabbing in the bleary eyed morning to defrost.  I always say I'll remember and don't need to grab that Sharpie.

Right.

 Regardless, I found a recipe for "Monterrey" Chicken, and it sounded great.  I found it at All Things Simple, which sounded right up my alley.

I quickly cooked the chicken on the stove top, although I was tempted to create it in the oven with the Rotel, much like my Salsa Verde Chicken.

My measurements weren't as precise as the original recipe, but it was straight forward.

 I cut my two large chicken breasts in half, then smeared BBQ sauce on top of each.  Then, I drained the Rotel (original recipe) and topped the BBQ chicken with the tomatoes and chiles.

From there, it was bacon pieces (from a bag, unfortunately), and then I sprinkled Mexican blend Colby Jack cheese shreds on top.

I also hate cleaning, so you'll note I lined my Pyrex with foil.

I popped the chicken in the oven at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese was nice and melted, but not so long that it dried out my chicken.

This dish also made me remember why I love Rotel...  It not only adds flavor, but the heat keeps my portion sizes smaller.  

For my sides, I made quickly sauteed some peppers in a light touch of olive oil, with salt and pepper to taste.

I placed it all on a bed of quinoa.  Usually, I would make the quinoa in tomato bouillon base with the water, but I couldn't find that, or any chicken broth in the house to flavor it up.  Luckily the peppers and Monterrey chicken did their parts to add lots of flavor to the dish.

I made four portions out of my meal, and this was one of my leftovers the next day.  Still yummy!