Recipe 28: Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Bake

Despite being disappointed with the last chicken dish, I decided to make another chicken dish.  This one I enjoyed a lot more and I think was much better.

I am not sure exactly why I picked this recipe, but perhaps I was missing Tex-Mex food from Austin?

Here is the final result:

 And here is the recipe that I used: (link)

Ingredients

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
• 1 cup Pace® Chunky Salsa or Pace® Picante Sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup whole kernel corn
• 3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• paprika
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Stir the the soup, salsa, water, corn and rice in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with the chicken. Sprinkle with the paprika. Cover the baking dish.
2. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the cheese. Let stand until the cheese is melted.

The Process

This was another simple recipe.  I started my mixing the soup, salsa, corn, and rice.

 I made a slight mistake and sprinkled that mixture with paprika. I was supposed to first top it with the chicken.

So I added the chicken and sprinkled it with paprika again.  More spices!

I cooked it for 45 minutes and when it was out I sprinkled it liberally with cheese.

Finally, I served it with a spinach salad.

 My favorite part of this meal was actually the rice.  I thought that it was really good mixed with salsa and corn, which kind of surprised me.  This was another simple recipe, but I enjoyed this one much more.

I realized that perhaps just making chicken dishes was a little too similar.  So my next few dishes are going to be different. I promise!

Recipe 27: Garlic Chicken

So of all the recipes that I have made this one is actually among my least favorites.  I thought that it was fine, but it was pretty simple and I didn't really think that the garlic came through very much.

This was one of the first recipes that I made after I got back from Texas and I think the main thing you could say about my choices is that they were pretty simple and not very challenging.

Here is the final result:

 

And here is the recipe that I used: (link)

Ingredients

•     2 teaspoons crushed garlic
•     1/4 cup olive oil
•     1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
•     1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
•     4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Warm the garlic and olive oil to blend the flavors. In a separate dish, combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Dip the chicken breasts in the olive oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in a shallow baking dish.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear.

The Process

This was a really simple recipe, the first thing that I did was to heat up the garlic and olive oil.  I used minced garlic instead of crushed, which I think might have been a mistake.

I next prepared  the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  I put this mixture in a Ziploc bag, which makes it really easy to bread the chicken. 

I had slightly more chicken than they recommended, but soon they were all breaded and ready to cook.  I actually think that is they had been breaded better it would have been better.

I cooked it and then had them with a simple spinach salad.

Since I know that everyone really just comes here for Sprinkles, here is a picture of her playing in some snow.  Note: This did not happen recently, this was last December.

Overall, this was a fine recipe, but nothing special.  I enjoyed it, but would rank it pretty low amongst the recipes that I made.  I do think that this was one of the simplest recipes that I made, which is good.