Monterey Chicken

Yummo! This was a big hit tonight. It looked wonderful on the table (we all know we eat with our eyes first) and the taste totally was enormous! i will post the recipe and then add my "changes" at the bottom. the *** denotes where i have made changes.

Monterey Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, about 1 1/2 lbs. total

1/4 tsp. salt ***

1/8 tsp. pepper ***

1/3 cup bottled barbecue sauce - Head Country is the only BBQ sauce allowed in my home!

4-8 slices cooked bacon, according to your taste preference ***

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese - i used a monterey jack/colby blend.

4 scallions, trimmed and sliced

Heat oven to 350 º.Place chicken in a single layer in a greased baking dish.Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon on the barbecue sauce.Bake in oven for 25 minutes, or until all pink is gone.Top each breast half with 1 or 2 slices of cooked bacon. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake in oven 5 more minutes.Top each breast half with fresh scallions.

*** I used Weber Kick'n Chicken Grill Seasoning as an all purpose seasoning..tasty and pretty!

***I did not cook my bacon first. I just wrapped the breasts with one piece of bacon per breast, you could do more, i thought it was plenty. This added so much flavor, both to the chicken and most importanly, to the pan drippings/broth that was in the bottom of the dish.....that yummy goodness was heavenly with spooned up over the plain Jasmine rice i had made as a side dish....wow, that rice was almost as good, if not better, than the chicken itself!!! You can see the rice below on my plate with the yummy pan goodness on top of it!

**** you want to make sure you do NOT drown the breasts in the BBQ sauce. I just lighted brushed the tops of it well, not very much even drained down to the bottom. Just pretend you are basting the tops of the chicken in the sauce, don't drown it, as i think that would ruin the taste, because the end result you do not taste it and say "hmmm.. this is BBQ", it is a very subtle flavor.