It’s been a while since my last “cooking with Julie” episode, but I wanted to assure you that your advice and counsel have not got to waste. So, without further adieu, I shall present to you a (drum roll please ….)
Oh, okay, I admit it! I did yet anotherchicken recipe! Yep, go ahead, call me a chicken in the kitchen! (That’s right Ken, the self-proclaimed ‘kitchen-bitch,’ I can take it.) Bock. Booock. Cluckity cluck.
Now that we got that over with, I shall begin.
It was a dark and stormy night, so I was not able to venture out to the grocery store. (Yeah, there was no storm. I was too lazy.) I opened my fridge to see what I could find. No surprise there: chicken breasts. We always seem to have chicken breasts and bags and bags of that pre-shredded cheese for some reason.
Bingo! I recalled Nat’s idea for “Mexican chicken” that she shared in the comments last time. Here it is:
Nat’s Speedy Mexican Chicken
1. 12 oz. salsa
2. 1 cup plain yogurt
3. 1 cup of cheese
4. chicken breasts
Mix the salsa with yogurt and pour over chicken breasts. Then cover with cheddar/mozza or Monterey Jack cheese.
Preheat over to 350.
Bake for 40 minutes.
I didn’t have yogurt, but I had sour cream. I consulted Nat’s notes and she said that was fine for a substitute. I was good to go! I followed the directions above, although I have no idea what kind of cheese I used. Nat also suggested to go heavy on the cheese, so I probably used about 2 cups instead of 1. Now, I know what you’re thinking … it’s a bit high-fat at this point. But next time I will use the yogurt and some light cheese.
I paired the chicken with some very fancy side servings: mashed potato and garden salad. Not imaginative, but healthy, right?
And here’s what happened: It cooked without any incident. We all ate it and loved it. It was super-yummy and so easy! Woohooo!!
The ratings for this one were as follows: Hubby = 9/10, Stella = 9.5/10, and Julie = 9.5/10.
Yay Cooking with Julie! with pictures!
In another year your going to be some nerd foodie blogger.
Don’t fret about being a chicken specialist – I have a whole Cooks Illustrated book on just chicken recipes:
http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Recipes-Editors-Cooks-Illustrated/dp/1933615230/ref=pd_sim_b_4
There’s alot you can do.
I’m glad it worked out so nicely.
I am so relieved you liked it. I do believe it go higher ratings than at this house… phew. It didn’t suck.
Seriously we always use at least 2 cups of cheese. And I serve it on rice usually because the sauce stuff with the melted cheese is so good on rice.)
As a substitute… I have been known to make a cheater chicken recipe where you sub the salsa/yogurt with spaghetti sauce and serve it over noodles…
Cover it with cheese. It makes every thing better.