Julia & Chicken Salsa Verde Bake

So, I hate to go to the gym. I mean, I really hate to work out. There are probably about one hundred-fifty seven other things I would rather do before going to the gym. But- I know that I should/it is good for me so three days a week I drag myself there for thirty minutes, no longer and no more. However, today as I was working out "The French Chef" with Julia Child came on. Needless to say, today's workout was made much more enjoyable. Thank you Julia.

Husband has been out of town for the past two nights. I hate it when he is gone because, well, I just (most of the time) enjoy his company. But- the one good thing about his absence is that I can cook what I like and don't have to worry about his tastes. Tonight I made a Chicken Salsa Verde Bake. It's a Rachael Ray recipe that I have been wanting to try for a while.

To make this you will need 1-2 chicken breasts, 1 tbs evoo, 1/2 cup sour cream, a Mexican cheese blend, 1/2-1 cup of your choice of salsa, 1 half of an onion chopped, 1 can of kidney beans, and roughly 2 cups of tortilla chips, crushed. This is a halved version of the recipe which will feed about 4 people.

Start by pre-heating the oven to 375 degrees. Then, heat the evoo over medium heat to pan-cook your chicken. This will take 10-12 minutes, flipping once. While that is working you can combine the kidney beans, onion, sour cream, and salsa into a large bowl. Once the chicken is cooked, let it cool, and then shred it. Add it to the bowl with the beans etc. and stir together. In a 9 x 13 pyrex (I used an 8x8 and it worked fine) coated with cooking spray, put down a layer of tortilla chips, then put a layer of the chicken mix, then top with a layer of cheese. Continue to layer the ingredients until gone. I topped mine off with an extra layer of chips and cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly.



It doesn't really look pretty, but overall, I thought the dish was easy and good. I didn't really like that the onions weren't soft though. But- that is my personal preference, I'd just rather them be cooked.

I'm off to watch "Eat, Pray, Love", have a phone date with husband, and sleep!