Houstonist Cooks: Chicken Suizas Bake

Houstonist has an addiction, besides bacon cheeseburgers, fried justaboutanything and gravy,and it is that pay-television station with all the food and the cooking that we found on our cable/satellite subscription. Our life would be ever so empty without it. We burrow in our bed, under the covers, with our hot coffee, on Saturday mornings and watch it for hours and hours- just wasting away a whole bunch of perfectly good daylight. Perhaps we should take the evil talking box out of our sleeping place? Rachel Ray positively enthralled this past weekend with a Chili Suizas Bake that was definitely quick (hence the name 30 minute meals) and looked very, very delish. It is reminiscent of enchiladas suizas, but much lower in fat and calories and much faster. Being the sports we are, we decided to take on Rachel Ray bastardize her recipe to fit our current pantry and refrigerator offerings and see for ourselves just how good it was. Good, it was - props to Rachel, this is a brilliant idea - however you fix it, hers or ours.

Chicken Suizas Bake de Houstonist

2 lbs of ground chicken breast (or dice about 4 -6 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless)
2 tablespoons canola oil (or other light oil)
1 medium onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic chopped (or about 2 tablespoons of pre-chopped with juice)
1 - 16 oz jar of Salsa Verde, plus one small can (we used Herdez)
1 can green chili sauce with pork and jalapenos (hey, we found it in the pantry, we used it)
1 habanero pepper, minced (or hot pepper of your choice)
3 poblano peppers, roasted, skinned and chopped
8 oz of sour cream, or crema mexicana/fresca
3 cups tortilla chips (we used Central Market organic corn, soy and flaxseed)
1 cup each, shredded swiss cheese and mozarella
1-2 avocados chopped (optional)
1 medium tomato chopped (optional)
1 small red onion chopped (optional)
salt & pepper to taste (we used an additional teaspoon of white pepper, because we like it)

Prehead broiler/comal and begin roasting poblanos, turning them until they blister all over. Heat light oil to medium and add chicken to begin browning/cooking through. Once blistered, remove peppers to a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap, or a zip-to-seal bag large enough to accomodate them. When the chicken is almost done, add onion and garlic and minced habanero. Saute until the onion is soft. Add green sauces and continue to simmer while you finish the roasted peppers and add them. Salt and pepper to taste. If using an oven proof pan, turn off the heat and complete the bake, otherwise, transfer to an oblong baking dish. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place dollops of cream all over the chicken mixture. Crush the tortilla chips and layer evenly to cover. Top with shredded cheeses. Bake about fifteen minutes, or until bubbly and the cheese is melted. Plate up, top with the "optionals" as you opt to. Toma todo, er, we mean, go easy - it's that good.

There are lots of variants you can apply to this dish, like cilantro (we wish we'd had some on hand, we love it) which we would add just before the layering/baking stage. Further, this can be made with a vegetarian meat substitute quite easily. Or, we are considering using some chayote in place of the meat - to see if it would make a tasty pot luck veggie side, too. Personally, we refrained from seconds and have had the leftovers for lunch, twice. Rachel's original recipe will be concocted in our "test kitchen" too.