Mexican chicken bake
Last night I whipped up my dish for the second round of the Chopped at Home Challenge. Wish me luck in the contest - even if I'm not selected as a semifinalist, you've now got a new easy recipe to add to your arsenal.
I've never tried to coat chicken in cous cous before and I have to say, I really enjoyed the crunch it brought to the tenders. Some of the crunch goes away since you layer the chicken with salsa and cheese, but it's definitely still there even after baking. Make sure to use fine cous cous and not the giant pearled kind - I don't want you breaking a tooth and sending me a bill :)
I do have a good amount of cous cous leftover and I think that I'll use it to bread chicken in the future instead of using it to making a traditional side dish. This is why I love these Chopped challenges; you're forced into thinking how to use certain ingredients in new creative ways. Hope you enjoy my creation!
Mexican chicken bake
Level: Easy
Time: About 40 minutes Ingredients
3 lbs boneless chicken tenders
2 eggs
2 cups fine plain cous cous
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Olive oil, drizzled in pan for frying
2 cups prepared salsa
2 cups Sargento 4 Cheese Mexican blend
Fresh chives, for garnish
Toppings: lime juice/zest infused sour cream, sliced avocados
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a shallow bowl, stir up the eggs. In another shallow bowl, mix together the cous cous with garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper.
Salt and pepper each chicken tender, then dip in the egg wash followed by the cous cous mixture.
In a large nonstick skillet, drizzle olive oil and heat on medium. Cook tenders in batches, 4 minutes per side.
Spray a baking dish with nonstick spray. Layer half of the cooked tenders, followed by 1 cup salsa, then 1 cup cheese. Repeat to form a second layer.
Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. Turn on the broiler and broil for just a few minutes to brown up the cheese.
Garnish with chopped chives (or other fresh herb - parsley or <barf> cilantro) and serve with lime sour cream and sliced avocado.
Mangia!