1 post tagged “santa fe chicken”

There are about a million recipes for Santa Fe Chicken, everything from chile-lime rubbed breasts, marinated in beer (hehe, he said breasts. And beer.) to whole chickens roasted over an open flame. I like this one though for one reason: it's simple. And you make it in one pan. OK, that's two but whatever. One relies on the other and no one here (least of all me) is stopping you from drinking while you cook, thus inhibiting your ability to count. ;-)

The Ingredients

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium jar of chunky salsa (I like Pace - you can choose your temperature)
1 small bag of frozen baby corn
1 small can of sliced black olives (or one half small can of diced)
1 bag Restaurant Style white corn tortilla chips
2 cups shredded 4 blend Mexican cheese
1 container sour cream (this is a topping, so you can use light)
Red and Black pepper (optional)

Cut off all the nasty bits of raw chicken and discard, then cube the chicken into bite size pieces. You don't have to be super chef here, you can chop it some more once it's browned. Place the diced chicken in a 3 inch deep saute or sauce pan and begin browning.

 

While the chicken's cooking, you can go ahead and get out the other ingredients. You can put about a cup or so of the corn in a measuring cup and add a tablespoon of water or so to it. You're going to microwave it for a few seconds later to help it thaw but not cook it.

If you'd like, this is a good time to season the chicken a little. I used a little red and black pepper on the raw side before turning it but made an effort not to overdo it. If you plan to use mild salsa, a little extra kick won't hurt here. Continue to brown the chicken over medium to medium high heat until most of the juice is gone. The chicken is ready when you can with a tiny bit of effort chop it into smaller pieces with the spatula or spoon and it isn't like pressing on a piece of sponge. Reduce the heat to medium and brown a tiny bit more to taste.

Once the chicken is browned (a little more than this, but not much, it gets dry) add the entire jar of salsa right into the pan. Make sure you reduced heat to medium or it may splatter more than is healthy. Stir up the mix to a nice, even consistency. Let this simmer and microwave your corn for 20 seconds or so, depending on your microwave. Mine's 1100 watts and I did it twice, for 25 seconds each, stirring it around a bit in between. Remember, you're thawing it, not boiling it. You want it crisp and flavorful!

While the corn is defrosting, go ahead and add the olives. You may be tempted to add the whole can of diced olives instead of just half (I love them too, more than snuggly kittens on a cold day) but don't do it. The olives can be very overpowering when sauteed like this and all you'll taste is black olive mush. Also, it'll look like black death. Ew. If you got sliced, have a field day.

Stir up the mix until it's blended well and add the corn. The whole sloppy mess should be a little stiffer than a hearty beef stew at this point.

Mix the corn around and let it simmer a bit if it seems too runny. If you lift it with a spoon and it drips back instead of oozing back, it can simmer a minute or so. Otherwise, go ahead and add about a cup of the cheese! If you aren't sure about the consistency, don't sweat it. We have the technology, we can absorb it.

The cheese should be folded in and allowed to melt into a thick colorful mix. Doesn't it look southwestern? Once it's melted in, the Santa Fe Chicken is almost ready. There's still the issue of it possibly being too runny. This problem is solved magically by the addition of a handful or so of crushed tortilla chips. Use less if it's already very thick, a little more if you don't think it will stay on a chip.

Mix these in as well and let it simmer for a minute or so to make sure everything's warm and cooked and it's ready! I prefer to have it over ships and ea it like messy nachos but see below for a couple of other ways. A dollop of sour cream on top and it's ready to eat.

If you do have it this way, don't put the chips away quite yet. It's handy to put a bowl of hem on the table with the meal as typically the chips run out before the chicken. Enjoy!

Things you can alter:

If you like your food flaming with the spice you can use a hot salsa or marinate your chicken before-hand. One other way to add an interesting bite to it is to use sliced black olives with jalapenos. This adds a bit more color and a definite flavor shift to the spicy.

If you're a bean lover, you can substitute one of the chicken breasts for a roughly equal amount of your favorite beans. Black beans would work well. Just drain them and add them in with the salsa. You may want to cook it a little bit longer at that point to soften the beans.

You can also use flavored tortilla chips (chile-lime), or add a little extra fresh onion and cilantro. It's also an easy recipe to spread over a tostatda, though you may want to dice the chicken a bit smaller. The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you really can't screw it up. Unless you undercook the chicken and kill everyone. Otherwise, you're good!