My sneaky casserole
So living in the Southwest means most people don't appreciate the casseroles I grew up with. Creamy, cheesy, sometimes crunchy casseroles with random bits of chicken, noodles, and the occasional water chestnut or pimento (if you were lucky). Whether or not your toppings were potato chips or corn flakes I will leave to you (I've had some that were topped with chow mein noodes. How Oriental!). But suffice it to say, marrying a Southwesterner meant I was leaving my casseroles behind. Or so I thought...
Introducing: Rotel Chicken! It's like a Southwest chicken casserole without the topping. I ate this straight from the pan but I suppose you could serve it with rice, noodles, or over steamed cauliflower/broccoli. The best part is....it's really not that labor intensive at all. Here is a recipe that serves 2:
4-5 chicken thighs, de-skinned (but not de-boned because that's harder than what's necessary)
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chile
1/3 block of cream cheese
Salt, Cumin & Chili Powder to taste
Place chicken thighs in a pan on medium/low to low heat. Pour can of tomatoes (juice and all) over the chicken. Now cover it and go away.
**If you make this in a larger quantity, you could do it in the crock pot! Just add an additional can of tomatoes (but probably not the juice, that'd be too wet) and the chicken to the crock and cook on low**
The goal is to slow-simmer the chicken until it falls off the bone. Then just take the bones out and voila - easy de-boning!
Once the bones are out, plop a pinch of cream cheese on top of each piece of chicken and re-cover. The cheese should melt down the chicken and into the tomato sauce to make more of a spicy creamy sauce.
When the chicken is fully cooked, shred it well and eat it however you like! I made mine with spanish cali-rice (like Spanish Rice, but with cauliflower) and it was SO GOOD. I ate the leftovers out of the pan, standing over the sink. No shame....
Served with salad and a low-sugar chocolate martini! I earned this one.....
Introducing: Rotel Chicken! It's like a Southwest chicken casserole without the topping. I ate this straight from the pan but I suppose you could serve it with rice, noodles, or over steamed cauliflower/broccoli. The best part is....it's really not that labor intensive at all. Here is a recipe that serves 2:
4-5 chicken thighs, de-skinned (but not de-boned because that's harder than what's necessary)
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chile
1/3 block of cream cheese
Salt, Cumin & Chili Powder to taste
Place chicken thighs in a pan on medium/low to low heat. Pour can of tomatoes (juice and all) over the chicken. Now cover it and go away.
**If you make this in a larger quantity, you could do it in the crock pot! Just add an additional can of tomatoes (but probably not the juice, that'd be too wet) and the chicken to the crock and cook on low**
The goal is to slow-simmer the chicken until it falls off the bone. Then just take the bones out and voila - easy de-boning!
Once the bones are out, plop a pinch of cream cheese on top of each piece of chicken and re-cover. The cheese should melt down the chicken and into the tomato sauce to make more of a spicy creamy sauce.
When the chicken is fully cooked, shred it well and eat it however you like! I made mine with spanish cali-rice (like Spanish Rice, but with cauliflower) and it was SO GOOD. I ate the leftovers out of the pan, standing over the sink. No shame....
Served with salad and a low-sugar chocolate martini! I earned this one.....
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