Southwest Stuffed Chicken

My husband loves the flavors of the Southwest and Mexico: chiles, cilantro, cumin, peppers, onions, tomatoes and a bit of heat. If you look through the blog, you can see that I try to make him happy. Of course, I love the food as much as he does. But it gets harder and harder to do something original. Stuffed chicken isn’t something new, but this is my idea, my selection of the ingredients and my instructions.

If you are like me, a recipe is just a starting place. When I was less experienced or if I am not confident, I do follow the recipe teaspoon by teaspoon. But most of the time, I read a recipe and use it as a canvas, but add my own color and brushstrokes by changing it up to please our family of two. Knowing this, I always list a few changes that you could make while following my recipes. 

While making this recipe, you can follow it exactly or change it up. You could buy taco seasoning or make your own. I prefer to make my own because most prepackaged seasonings are salt flavored salt. You can also control the amount of heat in this dish by omitting the jalapeño and choosing the variety of Ro-Tel you want. I used Ro-Tel with Habaneros. I love spicy. You could use Ro-Tel Mild. I also used ¼ cup shredded cheddar and ¼ cup shredded pepper jack. You could use all cheddar or all pepper jack or all Swiss if you wanted. (Don’t use Swiss, I was joking.) I think that it is important for food to be visually appealing, so instead of using one green bell pepper, I used ½ red bell pepper and ½ yellow bell pepper.

I served this with Yellow Rice, slices of cucumber and Spicy Pintos, the quick recipe for them is at the end.

Servings: 4-6

Time: Active: 25 minutes; Cook: 50 minutes; Chicken in about an hour

Hardware:  A cutting board and knives, a meat mallet (or a rolling pin or a very sturdy coffee cup,) plastic wrap, food safe gloves, measuring spoons and cups, toothpicks, tongs, a bowl, a large plate, a heavy skillet that can be used on the stove top and in the oven (I use cast iron,) a metal spoon, a can opener, a meat thermometer, an oven mitt

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1.5 lbs.)
• 1 ½ tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1 large bell pepper (8 oz.)
• 1 small red onion (4 oz.)
• 1 jalapeño (optional)
• 1 oz. sun-dried tomatoes (I used California Sun-Dry Southwestern Style)
• 10 oz can Ro-Tel
• ½ cup shredded cheese
• Olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375°.
2. Slice the onion and green peppers into long thin strips. Wearing gloves, dice the jalapeño, removing the seeds and white ribs. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet over medium high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the veggies and cook to desired tenderness. Some people like them very soft, but I prefer them to have some crunch. Remove the veggies to the bowl. Set aside. Don’t wash the pan.
3. Dice the sun-dried tomatoes into very small pieces. Add them to the bowl with the veggies.
4. Wearing gloves, trim the fat from the chicken and cut each cutlet in half long ways. (You want long, flat pieces of chicken not chunks.) Cover each cutlet with plastic wrap and pound flat (with whatever you have handy.) If the breasts are thick enough, you may be able to get 3 pieces from each breast. Generously season both sides of the chicken with taco seasoning.
5. Do one roll at a time. Place a small amount of the veggie filling on the short end of the chicken. Roll up tightly and secure with a toothpick. Place the roll on the plate. Do this with the rest of the chicken.
6. Add a little more oil to the pan and heat over medium heat. Add the chicken to the pan, seam side down, cook for 5-7 minutes or until the chicken is brown. Flip the chicken and spoon off as much fat as you can.
7. Nestle the unused filling around the chicken and add the can of Ro-Tel. Don’t pour it over the chicken as you will make the crispy top become soggy.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is 160°. Remove the pan. Using the tongs, remove the toothpicks. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the chicken and return it to the oven and cook for 5 more minutes or until the cheese melts.
9. Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes.
10. Scoop up everything left in the pan and serve as a side.Serve with Spicy Pintos, cucmbers and Yellow Rice,

 Southwest Stuffed Chicken

 

Spicy Pintos

Quick recipe: Put pintos, cilantro and a bay leaf in the crock pot and cover them in water. Set the crockpot on low for 5 hours. You may need to add more water while they are cooking. Check to see if they are tender at 4 hours because every crockpot is different. When the beans are tender add chopped jalapeños, onion, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, a splash of vinegar, a pinch of cayenne pepper and salt. Simmer them for another hour. Remove the bay leaf. (Culantro is a cilantro substitute. It gives a similar flavor with no soapy aftertaste. Also, if you add salt or anything with sugar or anything with tomatoes before the beans soften, they will never get tender.)