Skillet Chicken with Mexican Green Rice

Skillet Chicken with Mexican Green Rice
Recipe adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Café

Makes 4 Servings

16 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper
1 tbsp canola oil
½ cup onion, finely chopped
1 poblano pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic, jarred
1 tsp ground cumin
1 10-oz. can green enchilada sauce
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Pat chicken dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat until hot. Brown chicken on each side for 1-2 minutes until golden but not cooked all the way through. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside. In the hot skillet, add onion and poblano pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes, until vegetables are softened, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic and cumin and cook for 30 seconds. Add enchilada sauce, rice and water, stirring to combine. Bring mixture to a boil and set chicken breasts in the simmering rice mixture, nestling them in a bit. Cover the skillet, set the heat to low and cook for 20-25 minutes, until rice is tender, most of the liquid is absorbed and the chicken is cooked through, stirring every five minutes or so to ensure the rice isn’t sticking to the bottom. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Nutritional Information: 420 calories, 57 carbs, 6 fat grams and 31 protein grams.

Review: This had a lot of flavor and I liked that the rice was green (more green in person - I swears)! I will say that the rice took a long time to me! It kept tasting crunchy so I ended up cooking it for almost 30 minutes. I'm just SO bad at making rice on a stove - it's always either soupy or crunchy. That being said, even though I had to improvise a bit based on my stove, the recipe was great and I wouldn't consider using minute rice or anything as this was SO much flavorful with the rice cooking in the sauce mixture. I will definitely make this again, and can even see using red enchilada sauce to mix it up!