It was Saturday night and I told him to come over. No, not a booty call; I was inviting this guy to sample my out-of-sight culinary skills. Trust me, men stay around much longer if you feed them.

The only problem was, as per usual, I was operating on the fly and I had no idea what I was going to cook.  I drove to Target with an hour to spare and an idea to make something with chicken. Wanting to impress, I needed to make something above and beyond the usual breaded chicken cutlets.

Once in Target, I wandered around the marinade and sauce aisles for about ten minutes. Then I realized I was wasting precious time. My mind raced to think of something that was a little spicy, had a lot of flavor and hopefully came in a bottle.

On a whim, I grabbed a jar of salsa off the shelf to go with the Tostitos hanging out in my cupboard and was then I realized that salsa was a sauce. In fact, salsa means sauce in Spanish. That was the moment when my salsa chicken was born.

This salsa chicken dish not only looks and tastes amazing, but it’s so easy to make that you’ll barely realize you’re cooking. All you need to get started is a jar of salsa and some oil. I used salsa verde to marinate the chicken and then threws some fresh tomato salsa on top, but you can use regular salsa for both.

Mix a third of a cup of salsa with two tablespoons of oil and one tablespoon water, adding extra spices if you want to kick up the flavor. I like using cayenne, black pepper and a pinch of garlic powder. The water and oil are going to separate, but that’s okay.

Use a basting brush to coat each piece of chicken or alternatively place chicken in the bowl, turn over and then remove immediately. Be sure to cover the entire piece.

Using a medium-high setting, pour 3-4 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan. Once the oil is heated, add the chicken. Turn the chicken over once the other side is a nice golden brown color.

Serve with a spoonful of salsa on top and tortilla chips on the side to make it meal!

And just in case you’re wondering, this guy was definitely a fan of the chicken and more importantly, me. He even washed the dishes.