I am conflicted about the end of summer. I love summertime, but I am just plain tired of being hot. I am also tired of salad. And cantaloupe. I don’t even want another daiquiri any time soon.
On the other hand, it’s not even a month into the school year and the tyranny of the school schedule is harshing my bliss. It’s not that I don’t like fall, I do like some fall things: college football, new school supplies, and fall clothes, mainly. (I have realized I look drastically better in cool-weather clothes than summer clothes. That’s some harsh reality right there.) I also like the food: steaming bowls of soup with homemade bread, hearty cheesy lasagnas, beef dishes with rich mushroom sauces–did I mention that I recently dreamed about chicken and dressing?
But it’s this whole school/fall schedule that’s irking me right now. Up at 5:30 am, make some breakfast, pack a school-appropriate lunch. Then work, sweat, work, sweat, work. The baby comes back home at 5:30 pm, understandably starving. A real meal must be available in a timely fashion so we can go to bed early enough to get back up at 5:30 tomorrow. This goes on day after dang day. I actually cope well with this routine as long as the air is crisp and I feel frisky. But the reality is that lately when dinner time rolls around the heat index is still about 105°. It’s too hot to be fall. Even the cicadas sound tired.
In any case, here’s what we’re having tonight: King Ranch Chicken. It’s an oldie but a goodie, and I’m trying to meet the Universe halfway. King Ranch Chicken is delicious, and I have some cooked chicken to use up. This can be made in the morning and cooked later if you like. The leftovers freeze beautifully. It’s sort of summery, sort of fall-ish, and this version is a bit unorthodox.
King Ranch Chicken is named after the venerable King Ranch (bigger than Rhode Island!) in Texas, but the King Ranchers insist they had nothing to do with it. A staple at Texas church dinners and funerals, it’s really just a typical 1950’s ladies’ magazine casserole with chicken and a South Texas attitude. I dearly love the thought of demure little church ladies arguing about how much Texas Pete to add. Older King Ranch Chicken recipes call for three (three!) cans of condensed soup: often cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and cream of celery. How big must a casserole be to carry the sodium content of THREE cans of condensed soup? I’m not doing that.
Here’s my new and improved King Ranch Chicken! It’s made in an oven-proof skillet, and it’s faster and easier. It also doesn’t call for so much salty soup. You’ll never miss it.
Skillet King Ranch Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper or poblano pepper, or a combo, diced
- 1 t. chili powder
- 1 t. oregano
- ½ t. cumin
- ½ t. smoked paprika
- ½ t. salt
- ½ t. black pepper
- ¼ t. cayenne pepper
- 1 10 oz. can diced tomatoes and chilies, undrained
- 1 can condensed cream of onion soup
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
- 8 oz. grated cheddar cheese
- 4 burrito-sized flour tortillas cut in six wedges each
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- In an oven-safe skillet, sauté the onions and peppers in the oil until very soft. Add chili powder, oregano, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Stir until well-distributed. Stir in the tomatoes, soup, and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken and half of the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted. Remove from the heat. Arrange the tortillas on top of the chicken mixture. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Bake for 15 minutes.
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