Southwestern Chicken Skillet

During the year and half that I was planning my wedding, I was religiously on The Knot message boards in both Chicago and Detroit getting ideas for planning my wedding. During this time is when my food blog was born. One "Knottie" created a food blog, and many more followed suit. I have many of these women's blogs in my blog list and I refer to them when I'm looking for an inexpensive, easy weeknight meal. Most of them offer great home cooked meal ideas. To me, most of them offer the kind of basic, but super delicious meals that everyone's mothers cooked us growing up. This meal to me, is one of those. I got this idea from Amy Horgan's blog, The Horgan's Cooking Blog and Patrick and I both really loved it! It makes a quick and delicious weeknight meal.

2 tsp. olive oil

2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Your favorite Mexican spices, such as a fajita or taco seasoning or a blend of chili powder, cumin, etc. (I have used Penzey's Northwoods Seasoning for this before and it was awesome!)

1 cup uncooked white or brown rice (I used instant brown rice)

1 (10 oz) can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles (I used Safeway's version, which is the same)

1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

1 cup water

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 cup cheddar cheese ( I used 2% milk sharp cheddar)

Toppings of your choice, such as: sour cream, black olives, more chopped green onions, hot sauce, salsa, etc.

1. Season chicken with seasonings and toss to coat. Heat oil in a large, nonstick skillet and add the chicken. Cook until just cooked through.

2. Add the rice and next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil.

3. Simmer for 20 minutes until rice is tender. Top with cheddar cheese and remove from heat. Let stand 2 minutes or until cheese has melted. Serve with toppings and enjoy!

Serves 4.