Chicken Tomato Casserole With Cilantro Pepper Sauce

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts (boneless skinless)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 green pepper, chopped fine
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine
• 1/4 cilantro, chopped fine (you can substitute parsley, but for me cilantro is what makes the dish)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 medium tomatoes, sliced (use a nice beefsteak or large tomato, not the small plum tomatoes)
• 2 cups monterey jack cheese
• salt
• pepper
• 1 lime, cut in wedges

Recipe

• 1 chicken -- i use a baggie to marinade my chicken. just add the olive oil, lime juice, salt, cayenne and chicken, close up the baggie and shake well to make sure the chicken is covered with the marinade. i like to marinade at least 1-2 hours and up to 8 hours (or all day).
• 2 make sure to take the chicken out of the refrigerator to let it come to room temp before you begin to saute.
• 3 in a large saute pan (i prefer non-stick for this) add the olive oil and saute the chicken on medium high until golden brown on each side. cooking time will depend on the size of your chicken breasts. about 4 minutes per side. remove to a plate while you finish the pepper onion sauce.
• 4 pepper, onion and cilantro sauce -- in the same pan you cooked the chicken in, add the remaining olive oil and bring to medium high heat. then add in the garlic, green peppers, onion and cook 2-3 minutes until tender, but not brown. remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
• 5 casserole -- spray a 9x9 casserole dish with a non stick spray. line the bottom of the dish with 2/3's of the tomato slices and season with salt and pepper. then top with 2/3's of the pepper onion cilantro sauce, 1/2 the cheese, and the chicken breasts. repeat with the remaining tomatoes and the pepper onion cilantro sauce over each chicken breast.
• 6 note: you can use individual baking or casserole dishes for this if you want.
• 7 bake -- in a 400 degree oven, bake 15-20 minutes, then sprinkle each chicken breast with the remaining cheese. bake an additional 15 minutes until the chicken is tender. enjoy!