So Cheesy!

Tonight I was waffling a little about what to cook for my blog post - not really having anything in mind.  But, I did have a can of Campbell's cheese that needed to get used. (I'm not too sure why I bought it to begin with).  So, this is something I just came up with on the fly based one what I had handy, and it's super easy, too!  Fun stuff.

What You'll Need

Supplies

Cutting board                                                                Skillet

Knife                                                                             Spoon

Small pot                                                                       Measuring cups

Ingredients

Package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts             Thyme

1 cup rice                                                                       Olive oil

1 can Campbell's cheese                                               Salt and pepper

Small yellow onion                                                         1/2 tsp minced garlic

Now Let's Make Cheesy Chicken and Rice

To begin, measure out 2 cups of water and pour it into your pot.  Set the stove to high and boil the water.  Once the water begins to boil, pour in your 1 cup of rice.  Stir briefly, and cover.  Reduce the heat to low (which is actually about 3 on my lovely stove), and let the rice cook.  You can check the rice occasionally and give it a little stir, but otherwise you can pretty much ignore it until it's done.

Sizzle

Now, peel and dice your onion. To make peeling easier, cut the very ends off either side of the onion first.  Once your onion is diced up (and you've wiped your streaming eyes), pour a dollop of olive oil into your skillet.  This dollop should be about the size of your palm as it spreads out (the oil, not your palm). Set the heat to medium, and allow the oil to heat a bit.  Once the oil has heated, scrape your onions in, and begin to saute, moving the onions around the pan occasionally.

Chicken!

While your onions are sauteing, get back to your cutting board and begin cubing the chicken.  One breast at a time (your pack should have about three), trim the fat off and slice the chicken into small bite-size pieces.  Set this aside, and return to tending the onions.  Once the onions are cooked through and have reached a semi-translucent soft state, add the chicken to the pan.  If things are a bit dry and you need to add a touch more olive oil to the pan, do so before adding the chicken.  Saute the chicken until all sides have turned white and chicken is cooked through. 

Mmmmmm... cheese.

Now, open your can o' cheese and spoon it into the pan, reducing heat to a medium-low setting.  Stir the cheese in until it is thoroughly mixed with the chicken and onions.  Add a couple dashes of thyme and the garlic.  Stir this in well and add salt and pepper to taste.  I find that the cheese is not particularly salty, so don't be too afraid.

Once everything is heated through, serve the rice and cheesy chicken together and enjoy!  A few alternative things I would like to do with this recipe:

Noms

• I would add some steamed broccoli when I add the cheese.  Why didn't I do this, you ask.  Because, my cousin Katie (see photo) is visiting for Thanksgiving and hates all things vegetable.  When I suggested broccoli she looked at me like I had killed Bambi.
• I would mix the cheesy chicken (and broccoli) with the rice, slap it into a 9x9 casserole dish, sprinkle some shredded cheese on top and bake it at 350F for a little bit. 

B-broccoli!?

    Follow @TheBookPantry