Monterey Chicken

Joey and I are really getting into cooking now that we have all these great new things from our wedding gifts. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Ralph's with a handful of coupons we received for being new neighbors. Included in this was a coupon for a free 1lb package of Ralph's bacon. We used all the free coupons and then all we had to do was figure out some recipes to make it really worth it.

Joey landed on Monterey Chicken. He had had the recipe before and thought it was ok, so we decided to go ahead and make it. Monterey chicken is sort of an explosion of a lot of different flavors together. I can't say its my absolute favorite thing..but it wasn't bad. I think the part I found weird was the salsa topping with the bbq sauce. I don't usually eat bbq tacos...but its been done before.

We used a recipe from RecipeZaar with a few adjustments:

Ingredients:

• 4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2-3 tablespoons butter (we omitted this)
• 8 slices bacon, cooked (not too crisp) - we didn't need this many
  
• 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup bbq sauce

Salsa Topping (we just made a basic pico de gallo with cilantro, tomatoes, onion, lime juice and salt)

• 1 green bell pepper, diced small
• 1 onion, diced small (white or red)
• 1 tomato, diced small
• 3/4 cup white vinegar

1. At least one hour or even a day ahead of time, make the Salsa Topping.
2. Mix Salsa ingredients in a small bowl, chill.
3. In a 13x9" baking dish, place the chicken, (not touching) and dot with Butter (if you don't dot it with butter it just won't brown which isn't a problem since you're covering the top anyway).
4. Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes, or until done.
5. While chicken is cooking fry bacon and shred the cheeses.
6. When chicken is fully cooked, remove from oven.
7. Turn oven up to 425°F (*Unless you prefer the broiler).
8. Spread the barbecue sauce on chicken, then the bacon and then add cheeses.
9. Place the baking dish, back into the hot oven* or under the broiler for a few minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly, plate and top with the chilled Salsa Topping.