Dinner recipe: southwest grilled chicken melts

I got this recipe from Sunset and modified it slightly to add more ingredient options so you can work with what you have in the fridge. The first time I made this recipe I was impressed with how simple it was but how fancy the flavors here. The chilis lose most of their spice in the cooking, but you can sub them out for roasted red peppers if you like. This dish takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp canola oil, split

4 Anaheim or poblano chilies (in season right now) or red peppers.

4 skinless chicken breast halves (you can also use thighs)

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp salt

Lime wedges (a few squirts of bottled lime juice will sub nicely)

1 avocado, sliced

1 cup shredded jack cheese

Directions

Turn oven to 500. Rub 1Tbsp of oil over chilis or peppers and cook in oven, turning often with tongs, until their skins are browned. Put them in a bowl and cover while they cool. Remove the seeds and rub off the skins.

Use remaining oil on chicken. Combine spices and sprinkle over chicken. Grill chicken in the oven for about 10 minutes, turning once. Check the meat is cooked through. It should be nicely browned. (Smaller thighs will need less cooking time.)

Squeeze (or squirt) the lime on the chicken. Place a few avocado slices on each chicken piece, top with a chili and about 1/4 of the cheese. Grill until cheese melts, about four minutes, while covered loosely with aluminum foil.

Serve with salad and/or rice.