Hatch Chicken Cordon Green

A punny twist on a classic, Chicken Cordon Green layers tender chicken with Roasted Hatch Green Chile, smoky cheese, and deli ham. This quick, deconstructed version is weeknight-friendly but fancy enough to impress — all the flavor, half the fuss.

Chicken Cordon Green, did you know that was a thing? It's cheesy and it's spicy, it gets a little feisty! Thanks, I'll be here all week.

The writing process is a funny thing. When coming up with a recipe, I take lots of things into consideration. What are classic Green Chile recipes? How can I jazz them up in a different way? What is popular this season? Does the weather warrant something cozy or something refreshing? This time around, however, the idea for this recipe was sparked from nothing other than a pun that popped into my head. My husband has been begging me to learn how to make Chicken Cordon Bleu, and as I strolled through the store, the phrase Chicken Cordon Green popped into my pretty little head. After being sufficiently satisfied with my quick wit, I thought, HEY! That actually sounds like a good idea. And thus, this recipe was born.

I made a quick and easy Chicken Cordon Green. I chose a deconstructed version that has all of the same flavors present but is a little more time-crunch friendly. You can spend as much or as little effort on this recipe as you so desire. You could do it with whole chicken breasts and actually stuff them as the recipe usually explains. I chose the quickest route and used store-bought chicken tenders (a time-saving girl's best friend). These little guys cook like lightning in a skillet. If you have a grill, they cook even faster.

All I did was brine the chicken for about an hour in a salt-water solution. Then I cut the chile and ham into strips and started assembling as the tenders were cooking. We use our own Roasted Hatch Green Chile for that smoky depth, layered with a slice of smoky Gouda and black forest ham. So simple, so oozy-cheesy-kickin'-delish.