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!

One Pot, Meal in a Skillet

Hello, everyone.  I'd like to start this evening by introducing myself.  My name is Jessica, and I am a fan of one-pot dishes.

I know that they are uninspired, and generally predictable.  In fact, even Thomas was unimpressed by this meal.  Not because it wasn't enjoyable, mind you, but because it was everything in a pot all at the same time, and he's used to seeing these meals come out of my kitchen.  (hehe, my kitchen...  I couldn't even pretend to hold that title in our house!)

Regardless, I always look for a flavorful recipe when doing a one-pot dish.  Otherwise, you could be burdened with a whole pot of bland.  Also?  As an added bonus?  You can usually score tons of leftovers with a one pot dish, so you don't want to be riddled with bland lunches for the week.

The Recipe: Cheddar Broccoli Chicken Skillet

The Tweaks: 

* I didn't have any Cheddar soup, so I used cream of chicken.

* Also, I added bell peppers and a can of Rotel (with the juice), both of which I had on hand.

* I replaced the instant rice with Jasmine rice, which we always have in the house.  This changed my timing because it wasn't instant rice, so I had to add water twice to ensure that the rice was cooked through.  If I had broth, I would have used that instead.  Oh well.  I'm a firm believer in going with what's on hand whenever possible.

* I probably also used way more cheese than the recipe called for due to 1) lack of cheddar soup, 2) I'm from the Midwest... extra cheese is a given

* The other given - fajita seasoning.  It's a great, all around flavor for chicken.  As of late, if there's any chicken to be prepped in the house, it has fajita seasoning thrown in for good measure.

The Verdict:  

This was an extremely easy week night meal to make.  I would have taken more pictures, but it was truly so easy that I forgot to take photos along the way.  Don't let the lack of pretty pictures, or the idea of a one-pot dish scare you.  I'd definitely give this one a thumbs up, and Thomas agreed, too. That being said, as a follow up to my broccoli chicken braid, it was unimpressive in its presentation.  It's a little give and take, they can't all be braided nights, but we can always have good food!