Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Chicken with Chipotle Sauce

Heat it up the for Super Bowl!
Chicken with Chipotle Sauce
For the family, or for a crowd, this recipe works.  For the family I serve it with rice packed with vegetables. For the Super Bowl Party, add a basket of nacho chips and a melted creamy cheese. People can choose whether to nosh on chicken nachos, or have a bowl of chicken and rice. The chipotle/tomatillo sauce is delicious. You won't be disappointed!

Chicken and Chipotle Sauce 

CHICKEN
2 lbs. Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 can (15 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped
1 dried ancho chili seeded and chopped
Combine entire can of tomatoes, chicken broth and chiles in large sauce pan. Add chicken pieces, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes, or until chicken is tender.
Remove chicken and set aside.
Pour chili/tomato broth into bowl and set aside to cool.

CHIPOTLE CHILE SAUCE
2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. Tomatillos, husked and chopped OR 1 can tomatillos, drained and chopped
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, seeded and minced (or more if you want more heat)
One-half tsp. Salt
one-fourth tsp. Sugar
Add oil to sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in onions and cook for about 10 minutes, until onions begin to caramelize. Add tomatillos, chile, salt and sugar. Reduce heat and simmer until tomatillos are tender, about 15 minutes.

Shred chicken and add to tomatillo sauce.
Puree cooled chile broth and add to shredded chicken and tomatillo sauce. Reduce heat to very low and cover until ready to serve.

RICE
1 cup brown rice, prepared according to package directions using chicken broth
1 T extra virgin olive oil
One-half red bell pepper, chopped
One-half yellow bell pepper, chopped
One-half sweet onion, chopped
3 handfuls baby spinach
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp. Smoked paprika

Add oil to saute pan. Add peppers and onions and cook for about 5 minutes, just until beginning to become tender. Add garlic, stir and cook another minute. Then add spinach and paprika, stirring until spinach wilts.
Combine vegetables with rice.

Serve chicken and sauce over rice with shredded cheese, chopped cilantro and lime wedges as condiments.