Salsa Chicken

Well, Sparrow, you asked for it. You got it. Food! By the way, in case you were wondering about yesterday. I used half my alone time to read and the second half I had to go and get productive. Tell me how 2 hours can go by so quickly!

On Sunday I did some cooking. I made a huge pot of spaghetti sauce to freeze. I also made a big batch of salsa chicken to be used as fillings for enchiladas, burritos, tacos, etc... Nothing says "I love you" to my husband quite like coming home to a house that smells like Mexican food! Some women simmer potpourri...I saute onions. This is not super simple recipe, but it is very delicious! I doubled it to freeze.

Salsa Chicken (from the Chevey's cookbook)
5 tomatoes, cored and halved
1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded, and halved
1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons Fuego Spice Mix (see below)
1 3-4 lb cooked chicken, skinned and meat chopped (I roast a couple chickens the day before and freeze the extra meat for stuff)
1/4 cup cilantro

Preheat the broiler. Place the tomatoes and jalapeno cut-side down in a baking dish. Place one of the onion quarters in too. Roast the vegetables under the broiler for 8-10 minutes or until they start to blacken. Remove from the oven and cool. Transfer the vegetables and accompanying liquid to a blender and pulse until thick and chunky.

Dice the remaining onion. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes. Add the spice mix and saute for 3 to 4 more minutes. Add the chicken pieces, and saute until the chicken is heated through, stirring often. Add the tomato mixture to the skillet and stir. Add the cilantro. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.

Fuego Spice Mix (This also makes a great rub for meat before cooking, or seasoning for tortilla chips. This makes 1 cup and note that you only need 2 Tablespoons above. I keep the extra to use on Fajita meat)

1/4 c paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne
2 Tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons ground white pepper
2 Tablespoons black pepper
2 Tablespoons granulated garlic
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons oregano