I’ve eaten many, many chicken breasts (boneless/skinless) in my days. Unfortunately, many of them have been tasteless, with texture like sawdust. There’s a salad place near my office that serves chicken breasts just like that. When I first tasted them, I couldn’t believe how bad they were, or that any place would be ok with selling something of that questionable quality. Needless to say, I don’t eat them there anymore.
(We ate them weekly when I was a kid, and I don’t remember them being so devoid of flavor then.)
Fortunately, I have discovered wonderful chicken breasts that actually taste like chicken! I get them through my CSA and they are delicious. These are chickens that run around on pasture, eat bugs, and lead a generally good life. This kind of chicken is always going to produce tastier meat.
Usually I grill chicken breasts, but I’ve gotten tired of cooking them that way, and have wanted to find other ways to prepare them. I’ve tried poaching them in spiced/herbed water, but they end up being devoid of fat. Baking them is dissatisfying. What to do?
My current favorite way of cooking them is pan-frying them in coconut oil, which is an excellent fat that lends rich flavor and adds extra nutrition. Then I chop them up and simmer them in salsa verde – one of my favorite sauces. I like eating them with a little cheese on gorditas, or even by themselves.
I was fortunate enough to find in my freezer a bag of salsa verde I’d made last summer from tomatillos I grew in my community garden. I find homemade salsa verde to be far superior to anything in a jar, but if you’re stretched for time, using salsa from a jar works just fine.
Salsa Verde Chicken
1 full chicken breast
2 tablespoons coconut oil
sea salt and pepper
3 cups salsa verde, either homemade or jarred
Rinse and fully dry the chicken breasts. Cut them into strips, then into smaller chunks. Season them with salt and pepper.
Fry in the coconut oil until just cooked through. Set aside.
Put the salsa verde in a saucepan and heat to a simmer.
When the chicken has cooled a bit, chop the chicken up into smaller pieces, as small as you like. Mine tended to be in general about 1/2 inch in size.
Put the chicken in the sauce and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
Serve topped with grated cheese and/or sour cream, served over gorditas, tortillas, or the whole grain of your choice.
This dish is even better the day after!
Serves 4.