Mushroom Artichoke Smothered Chicken

Since it's getting to be winter time, I don't get my beloved grilled chicken anymore. Instead, I try to come up with creative INDOOR ways to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Here's what I came up with last night.

INGREDIENTS:
4 small or 2 large chicken breasts
1 regular-sized box of baby bella whole mushrooms
1 jar of marinated artichokes
1 can of mild diced tomatoes & green chiles (Ro-tel)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salsa seasoning, minced onions or onion powder and cumin
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Cup Montery Jack cheese, shredded, or mexican blend cheese
Cilantro
Seasoned Salt (Lawry's, Mrs. Dash, whatever you have on hand or prefer - just make sure it's not spicy, since you're using the Ro-tel) and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cut or pull the stem off the mushrooms and slice very thin
2. Saute mushroom slices in olive oil over medium heat in skillet to release some of the moisture; only for about 3-5 minutes
3. Preheat oven to 350
4. In a mixing bowl, combine mushrooms, drained and chopped artichokes, drained tomatoes and chiles, salsa seasoning, minced onions and cumin
5. Add flour to mixture and stir (the flour will help soak up the liquid so the baking dish won't be full of liquid after cooking)
6. Sprinkle seasoning salt on both sides of chicken breasts and place in glass baking dish (I like to line to dish with foil treated with non-stick spray for easy clean up, but that's your choice)
7. Light add pepper to the top of the chicken breasts (optional)
8. Spoon mushroom-artichoke-tomato mixture on top of chicken
9. Bake on middle rack for about 25-30 minutes
10. Remove baking dish from oven and sprinkle montery jack cheese on top
11. Turn off oven, turn on broiler (high) and place dish in oven to melt and lightly brown the cheese

Sprinkle with cilantro (try parsley or basil if you don't like or have cilantro) and serve with a salad, green veggie, potatoes, rice, pasta, eat it alone - whatever will work!

I roasted asparagus that was tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with black pepper and lemon-garlic seasoning. For Ryan, I also mashed potatoes with butter, chicken broth, minced garlic, fat-free sour cream, salt and black pepper.

This dish was a hit! The chicken was moist and went well with the smothered veggies and cheese. I liked it so much, it's all I ate for my meal. I was too full to finish the asparagus! Will definitely do this chicken again...and maybe mix up the ingredients. I hate to do the same thing over and over.

Let us know how you mix it up with your chicken recipes!

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