As I was grocery shopping the other day, I noticed Trader Joe’s had a new salad I hadn’t seen before … southwest chopped salad. It is a salad kit, like others they offer.  In it you will find green cabbage, romaine, cotija cheese, roasted pepitas, tortilla strips, green onion, cilantro and spicy avocado dressing.  This salad gave me the inspiration for the chicken I prepared for dinner tonight.

I decided I’d marinate boneless, skinless chicken breasts in salt, pepper, minced garlic and a jar of salsa verde (green salsa). This was so easy. I placed my breasts in a glass dish, sprinkled them with kosher salt, pepper, three cloves of minced garlic and poured a jar of salsa verde over the top. I let it marinate for about an hour and a half.

I baked my chicken in a preheated 425 degree oven for 35 minutes. Once 35 minutes were up, I added light shredded Mexican cheese. I buy this already shredded in a bag at Trader Joe’s. I almost always choose to use lower fat cheese when I can.

I placed the chicken back in the oven for 5 minutes so the cheese could melt. I served my chicken over the chopped salad. Both Dennis and Kylie really enjoyed this chicken. If you wanted to put this chicken into a slow cooker for the day, you could definitely do that. Just add the cheese at the end to melt.

Ingredients

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 jar green salsa verde

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

shredded Mexican cheese blend (as much or as little as you’d like)

Directions

Place chicken in a glass dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add minced garlic and pour salsa over the chicken. Let marinate 1-3 hours.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake chicken for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, add cheese and cook for another 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris