{ So good } Chile Verde Chicken

Tonight's dinner was soooo good I had to share it with you right away!

I made this...

Chili Verde Chicken & Cilantro Lime Rice

{ my newest Hubby and Prince approved creation }

Serves 3-4 (serving size 1 breast & 1/2 cup of rice)

{ INGREDIENTS for chicken }

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

juice from 1 lime

salt & pepper

chili powder

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock

7oz can of diced green chiles

1/2 cup of Salsa Verde (I used La Victoria)

{ INGREDIENTS  for rice }

2 1/2 cups water

1 cup Jasmine rice

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

juice from 1 lime

{ DIRECTIONS }

1.  Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt, pepper and a very light dusting of chili powder.  

2.  Add the olive oil and garlic to a large skillet, careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the chicken and increase the heat to medium-high.  Squeeze the lime juice directly over the chicken before you flip it the first time.  Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the size of your chicken pieces.

3.  Remove chicken from the skillet and set aside.  Reduce heat to medium and add chicken stock to skillet, allow it to simmer for about a minute.

4.  Add green chiles to the skillet and bring to a simmer again.

5.  Stir the salsa verde into your green chile and chicken stock mixture, bring to a simmer yet again.

6. Finally add chicken back into the skillet.  Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes (once again depending on the size of your chicken pieces).  Flip the chicken half way through.

7.  Now it's time to start the rice while the chicken is cooking, combine water and salt in a medium sized sauce pan, bring to a boil on high.  Add the rice and reduce the heat to medium.  

8.  Stir the rice after about 4 minutes, check the tenderness of the rice at this point.  It should still be crunchy, you need to taste the rice frequently to get it to your preferred doneness **do not wait for all of the water to "disappear" or your rice will be MUSHY**  { I've tried many times to cook my rice based on a certain amount of time and it never turns out right, so I've now decided to follow in my parents footsteps and cook it until it gets to the texture I like and I'm at 2:2 }

9.  Once the rice is done, set your favorite strainer/colander in the sink and dump all of the rice and water into it.  Allow the rice to sit for a minute or two and then move it to a serving bowl.  Add the cilantro and squeeze the lime juice over the top, now stir it all together. 

{ hopefully your chicken is done now, too! }

We had some corn tortillas with ours, you could also serve it with some seasoned black beans, too, whatever you prefer { smile }

Here are a few more pics from the cooking process...

Have a wonderful weekend, lovelies!!