Salsa Verde Chicken

Just made this and wanted to share, it's really good!

I added some cooked onion, garlic and crushed red pepper to the salsa and used pepper jack cheese.


Salsa Verde Chicken Bake
While the chicken is cooking, prepare some rice or quinoa to serve with the chicken. You could easily make this with boneless, skinless chicken thighs as well. You may need to cook them just a few minutes longer than the breasts.

Ingredients
•1 1/4 to 1 1/3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
•2 cups (1 16-ounce jar) tomatillo salsa verde
•4 ounces grated Monterey jack and/or pepper jack cheese
•1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
Method
1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the tenders from the chicken breasts and cut the larger pieces in half. You should have 4 4-ounce chicken portions plus the tenders. Line a 8x8 casserole baking dish with the chicken pieces. Try to cover the bottom as completely as you can with the chicken.



2 Cover the chicken pieces with the salsa verde. Cover completely, there should be no exposed chicken or it will dry out. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, use it. The chicken should be removed from the oven when the internal temperature of the breast meat reaches 150°F.



3 Sprinkle cheese over the chicken, increase the oven heat to 400°F and return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes, enough time for the cheese to melt and the sauce to get bubbly.

Remove from oven. Serve immediately. Spoon over cooked rice or quinoa. Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips for crunch if you would like.

Yield: Serves 4.