Simple, Quick Meal: Chicken & Black Bean Salsa

This recipe is not my own -- but it's completely beyond me where I found it.  Somewhere online, I believe.  (Because where else do I spend my spare time but on the internet?)  Anyway, it's one of my favorites for it's incredibly simple preparation and deliciousness. 

The salsa acts as a quick, flavorful marinade to the chicken, and the thinner you slice it, the more it soaks up the salsa-goodness. (And can I just admit that black beans topped with creamy Monterey Jack cheese is perhaps the most delicious combination since peanut butter began flirting with chocolate?)  This meal usually goes over without any complaints at my house, unless you count Mia's demands that hers be served minus all of the ingredients except chicken.  So see?  It's clearly a hit!


Chicken & Black Bean Salsa

1 lb chicken breasts
1 jar salsa
2 cans black beans
Shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Slice chicken into thin strips.  Pour one and a half to two cups of salsa, depending on how saucy you want the finished product to be, into a 9x13 baking dish.  Layer chicken strips over salsa, and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes -- more for thicker-cut chicken, less for thinner -- or until chicken is cooked through.  Drain both cans of beans, and layer them over cooked chicken and salsa.  Place the baking dish back in the oven for about 5 minutes, to warm beans; some will begin to split -- that's perfect.  Finally, sprinkle shredded cheese over the beans, and replace the dish in the oven again for a few minutes until the cheese barely begins to melt. 

We serve this over piles of steaming brown rice, or rolled up in soft tortillas.  Mmmmm.....hope you like it!