Mexican Chicken & Rice Skillet

I’m a planner... Especially when it comes to meals.  I plan my meals every week and prepare a grocery list according to my meal plan.  BUT, sometimes whatever I have planned for dinner, just isn’t floating my boat.  This recipe was born on one of those days.  I knew I wanted something Mexican, and only had chicken in the fridge, so I started digging thru the fridge and pantry and came up with the ingredients for this recipe.  AND, it’s actually healthy and very low-calorie… BONUS!!

So today was not a great day… Our air conditioning went out around 7:30pm last night and we aren’t able to get the a/c tech out here until Monday, ugh!  It’s May in Texas and the high was 90° today, so in an effort to keep the house as cool as possible, I cooked outside using the side burner on my Charbroil TRU Infra-red Grill.  If you’re thinking about getting a new grill, I highly recommend this one.  I’ve had it for almost a year now and it’s the best grill we’ve ever owned.  It has very even heating and will heat to about 500-600 degrees in 15 minutes.  Because it’s an infra-red grill, there’s a U-shaped trough over the burners, which means no flare-ups at all.  You can spray cooking spray directly on the cast iron grill grates and not worry about flames shooting up or setting the house on fire.

There is a bit of prep involved in this recipe, but really, it couldn’t be simpler.  Cook your rice according to the package directions, you’ll need 1 and 1/2 cups cooked rice.  Start out with some taco seasoning and chicken breast strips, and cook in a pan with cooking spray until done, about 8 minutes.  Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.  Spray pan with more cooking spray.

Slice up your veggies, cut up your stewed tomatoes, press or mince your garlic, thaw out your frozen corn and get your spices ready.  Add your onion, green peppers and zucchini to the pan and saute for about 5 minutes.

After your veggies are done, add in the tomatoes, corn and spices, combining well, and bring to a boil.  Add in your chicken and rice and simmer until heated through.  Serve with salsa and tortilla chips if desired.

If you’re a lover of Mexican food, you’re going to want to try this!  It’s spicy but won’t hurt you.  The veggies are sauteed just enough to be crisp tender and the cumin and chili powder give it that distinct Mexican flavor that Tex-mex is famous for.

With the highs in the 90’s again tomorrow and no air conditioning til Monday, I think tomorrow’s dinner will definitely be a cold one.  🙂

Mexican Chicken & Rice Skillet

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

1 and 1/2 tablespoons taco seasoning

Cooking spray

1 medium onion, cut into thin strips

1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips

1 1/2 cups zucchini squash, halved and sliced about 3/4″ thick

2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced or pressed

1 can stewed tomatoes, cut up

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon chili powder

1  and 1/2 cups cooked rice

fresh cilantro (optional)

Coat chicken strips with taco seasoning and toss to coat.  Spray a large skillet with cooking spray,and stir-fry chicken unit no longer pink.  Remove and set aside.  In the same skillet, add more non-stick spray and saute the onion, green pepper and zucchini for about 5 minutes, until crisp tender, adding the garlic at the very end of the saute just until fragrant.  Stir in the tomatoes, corn, salt, cumin and chili powder and bring to a boil.  Add in chicken and rice and cook until heated through.  Add in chopped fresh cilantro (if desired) right before serving.

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