Chicken with Roasted Hatch Chiles and Cheese
27You’re sensing a theme, aren’t you? Top things with roasted Hatch chiles and cheese. It’s not really a bad way to live or a bad way to use up these roasted chiles. The marinade isn’t exactly necessary, but it helps ensure a juicy chicken breast and adds just a little more flavor than plain chicken. I started these on the grill and then finished them on the stove top. I suppose I could have finished them on the grill, but I was afraid of losing chiles and cheese in the grates. Crisis averted. I haven’t grilled up a chicken breast in a really long time. I forgot how long they can take to get up to the right temperature when they’re super thick like these were.
I used a mandoline to thinly slice up a zucchini and tossed it and some halved cherry tomatoes with a tablespoon of olive oil, lemon juice, a minced clove of garlic and white wine vinegar [a’la Good Life Eats]. I tore up some garden fresh basil [thanks, Emma!] and called it a day. I let it sit in the fridge while I finished up the chicken so the flavors would combine and infuse the raw vegetables. It was really good and refreshing. Necessary for these hot-ass chiles.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1/4 cup of cilantro
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 4 large-sized or 6 medium-sized roasted Hatch chiles, diced
- 2 boneless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese
Preparation
In a blender, add the garlic, cilantro, line juice, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/3 of the diced Hatch chiles. Blend until smooth. Place the chicken breasts in a bag and pour in the marinade. Place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I used this time to prep the zucchini and tomato salad.
Heat a gas grill to medium-high heat. Remove the chicken breasts from the marinade and place on the grill. Grill on each side for 5-7 minutes. They shouldn’t stick to the grate anymore when you flip them. Check the temperature. They should be a comfortable 160-165 degrees. Remove them to a nonstick skillet.
Heat the skillet on medium heat. Top each chicken breast with the remaining Hatch chiles. Top each with the shredded cheese. Cover with a lid for a few minutes until the chiles are heated through and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.