Monday, September 10, 2018

What's for Dinner? #Recipes!

Food blogger, Jo Wake, sent me a pico de gallo baked chicken recipe that she promised would be easy enough even for me. Add the extra benefit of it also being smothered in cheese, and this was a recipe I put on the top of my try-it menu. 



From Jo: 

1 lb boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs (I used a whole bag of frozen breasts)
2 tsp taco seasoning (I used the whole packet)
2 cups pico de gallo
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded (I used mozzarella, because it's what I had)

Season the chicken with the seasoning, place in a large baking pan, (I allowed the seasoning to soak in and "marinate") top with pico de gallo (I left it as a garnish to please my picky eaters) , and cheese (I added the cheese after the chicken baked so it stayed gooey) and bake in a preheated 375F/190C oven until the chicken is cooked through, about 20-30 minutes (I did 45-60 minutes...some of my breasts were pretty thick.)

Now, for the recipe in real life, the Elizabeth Seckman variety of life where cutting corners and spending as little time in the kitchen is always the goal.

First things first. I needed a pico de gallo recipe. I didn't have any in the house and driving to the grocery store was more work than plucking tomatoes out of the garden. During my quest for a recipe, I found this interesting little tidbit...

Did you know pico de gallo translates to rooster beak? Some say it's for the color. Others because it's not a sauce so much as a garnish that can be eaten with your fingers, primarily the forefinger and the thumb, which resembles a rooster's beak.  

Anyhooo, 

The garnish was easy. 

The online recipe 5 roma tomatoes, 1/2 cup onion, 1 jalepeno (seeded and chopped), 1/2 cup cilantro, salt to taste, cumin or sometimes lime juice

I didn't have roma tomatoes, so I used regular tomatoes from the garden, diced small. And chopped red onion. I also didn't have any jalepenos. I worried the garnish would be bland without the jalepeno, so to flavor it up, I added a quarter cup of the baked chicken juice and a bit of garlic salt.

Now, for the chicken. 

This was super easy. Just like Jo promised. (I apologize for the bad pictures!)

I laid out the chicken breast in the pan and covered it with the taco seasoning.


Once the seasoning soaked in a bit. I covered and baked, like the recipe said.

I let the seasoning get gooey and soaked in before baking.

To go along with the chicken. I made a package of seasoned rice. Also, super easy. Just mix with water, stick in the rice steamer, and dinner is almost finished!


The finished product... 
Delicious! 

Once the chicken was done. I sprinkled it with cheese, popped it back into the oven for a few minutes, then served after garnishing with the pico de gallo.


The picture doesn't do it justice...this was a quick, tasty meal. It got the highest thumb's up from my guys- a request for seconds!


12 comments:

  1. Well thanks for the pico de gallo recipe Liz. I have dried hot peppers on hand all the time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I usually have jalepenos in a jar- do you think they would work?

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    2. Should do if you give them enough time to soak up the juices.

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    3. Yep, if not it would make a dry, gross crust.

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  2. You just made my day! I was sitting here wondering what in the world I could make for dinner. The pico de gallo threw me off for a moment, but your version cleared it up. Big cherry tomatoes from the garden (that's what I've got ;)), onions, green peppers from garden (kids hate spicy anyway) Hey, and I even have Cilantro (not sure why.) Dinner is saved! Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Let me know how it turns out.

      Green pepper would be a good add. I love them!

      Delete
  3. Sounds good! Good idea to add the cheese towards the end to keep it gooey.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I kept over cooking the cheese on the top of my lasagna for years. Some lessons I learned the hard way.

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  4. Hi Elizabeth - it's always good to have these sorts of recipes to hand ... because life just gets in the way sometimes ...but dinner is important! Delicious and good to read from Jo - cheers Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like to have easy meal ideas to keep me out of the fast food line, because you're right- life gets in the way.

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