Verde Chicken

It is a rare occasion in this house for the cook (that's me) to ever follow a recipe to it's full entirety. I am a tweaker by heart and there is not a recipe out there that is undeserving of my tweaky-ness. It's just that. This addiction I have tends to lead me into unknown territory quite often. Inspiration is placed so cleverly through the grocery aisles mocking me and begging for me to brave their concoctions of flavor...and I usually accept. An unplanned trip to Trader Joe's one day brought me face to face with a jar of Salsa Verde and the desire to whip up something profoundly delicious was created.

I'll be honest, the jar sat in my pantry for about a month until I got the urge to go to battle. And battle is really an overstatement because this was really an easy one. This jar of delicious goodness is so pungent and unbelievably amazing, I can't wait to use it again, and again and again.

And so the story goes...

I pulled some basics for the meal; the salsa, olive oil, an onion...

I seasoned up some chicken with salt, pepper, and a little bit of garlic powder;

 2 breasts and two legs (they're for the girls). Next time I'll use thighs.

One large onion sliced to perfection

Heat 2 T of olive oil and 2 T of butter in a large skillet pan ( I used my large cast iron). The combination of the oil and the butter allows the oil to reach a higher temperature without smoking while allowing you keep the olive oil sensations...mmmm...MMM!

When the oil and butter begin to ripple and sizzle, place your chicken in the pan (thick portion first) and brown on all sides.

When its' reached it full browning potential, remove from the pan ans set aside. You're not cooking it all the way through, just browning the outside for flavor purposes.

Add the onions to the pan and stir. After a few minutes, add 1 heaping Tablespoon of minced garlic.

Once the onions are a little bit transparent, remove from the pan and set aside.

Here's the fun part where the crowd goes WILD!!!

Pour in 1 cup of chicken broth and watch the fireworks (well more like bubbles) do their magic. Take a spoon, tongs, whatever you choose to work with and scrub off any goodies stuck to the bottom of the pan. So good!

Then, add the salsa and stir.

Cook about 5 minutes and add the chicken and onions with all it's settled drippings back into the pan.

Set on a low simmer for 20-25 minutes to allow all the flavors to marry together.

Serve over rice; blend or white and a cool side of a quick guacamole.

 

This was soooo crazy good. It looks like there are a lot of steps, but it seriously was the one of the easiest creations that have ever been thought of in my lovely kitchen. It definitely satisfied my craving for Mexican food. And my husband declared victory for the cook on the Salsa Verde challenge. Can't beat that, huh?

On top of the victory, I had left over sauce to boot. Toss it in the freezer for a rainy day.
This could also be an easy fix in the crockpot. It might turn out a bit different, but I'm sure it would work. Something to think about next time, cause it's gOOOOOd!

Oh and for that quick mix guacamole? Yeah, one avocado and half a can of rotel. Done. If you want to call it by another name, by oh means, but it's guacamole for me.

Sweet lovins! Enjoy!

Update: I'm in the process of creating a printer friendly version of this recipe. So, if you're in the liking, be patient with me and you'll have the option to print soon. Thanks so kindly.

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