Recipe: Chipotle Garlic Chicken and Mexican Rice Casserole

Being a born and bred So-Cal girl, I have always considered Mexican food as an essential staple of my diet. College was full of late night Taco Bell runs and post-grad life involves a healthy dose of Chipotle on a regular basis. The numerous but equally wonderful combinations of chicken, cheese, and carbs make my mouth water every single time. Unfortunately, many of these dishes also run on the wrong side of the calorie/fat track, particularly the restaurant-style dishes. Not only are the portions enormous, but the all the extra cheese, oil, and sour cream are basically a recipe for disaster (aka a heart attack).These days I've been trying to cook as much as possible and eliminate all mysterious ingredients and empty calories from my diet. So when I came across this recipe for One Pot Mexican Rice Casserole from DamnDelicious' blog, I was beyond excited! I decided to pair it with a simple Chipotle Garlic seasoned chicken breast, and the results were delicious.

Ingredients:
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-3 tbsps minced garlic
-1 onion, diced
-1 zucchini, diced
-1/2 cup corn kernels (I used frozen)
-1 tomato, diced (I went with fresh)
-1 cup brown rice
-2 cups water
-1 tbsp chili powder (or to taste)
-1 tsp cumin
-Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
-1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
-Optional: chopped cilantro

1.) I started out by dicing all the vegetables I wanted to throw into my pot. This recipe can be adjusted to include whatever vegetables you prefer. The original recipe calls for bell peppers, but I hate bell peppers and so I substituted mushrooms instead.

2.) After all the chopping and dicing, heat 1 tbsp of oil in a nonstick pan (couldn't find mine, clearly), and toss in the garlic and onions, stirring until the onions turn translucent.

3.) Next is round two of the vegetables. Toss in the zucchini, carrots and corn and stir for another 2-3 minutes until the veggies become nice and tender.

4.) Lastly, toss in the tomatoes and mushrooms, along with the brown rice, 2 cups of water, and spices.

5.) Bring everything to a nice rolling boil, before lowering the heat, covering and cooking for about 25 minutes or until rice is tender (You could also transfer the mixture to a rice cooker and cook it in there).

6.) Once the rice is done, gently fold in the 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese, stirring until well mixed and cheesy all around =].

Super Easy Chipotle Garlic Seasoned Chicken:

Ingredients:
-Chicken breast
-Olive Oil Spray
-Chipotle Garlic seasoning
-Lemon Pepper seasoning
-1 tbsp lemon juice

1.) Spray olive oil on both sides of the chicken breast and thoroughly coat in Chipotle Garlic seasoning and Lemon Pepper Seasoning



2.) Cook for about 7 minutes before covering the chicken breast with lemon juice and re-seasoning a little bit.



3.) Cook for another 4-5 minutes or until done, and enjoy!