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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Easy Peasy: Stuffed chicken, mashed cauliflower, and rosemary peas.

If you are looking for something healthy and flavorful to impress your guests, look no further than this dish.  Pretend the camera angle is different and you can see that the chicken breast is stuffed with feta and mint!  This is the kind of dish that looks like you worked a lot harder than you did, but I won't tell if you won't.

Stuffed Chicken Breast


1. Cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts in half and slice a pocket in the side.  Depending on the size of the chicken, you may want to pound it out a little to have a more even cooking time. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.

2. Mix together whatever cheese and herbs you have on hand.  My favorite combinations are feta and mint or basil and goat cheese, but feel free to experiment.  You can also do this step ahead and put the mixture in the freezer, wrapped in saran wrap and rolled into a tube.  This will make for much easier stuffing.

3. Stuff chicken breasts with cheese/herb mixture.  Be careful not to overstuff or cheese will spill out during cooking process.

4. Heat 2 tsps of olive oil in an oven-safe skillet to medium high on the stove.  Sear chicken on both sides because as Anne Burell says, "brown food tastes good!"

5. Place chicken in a 350 degree oven until cooked through and enjoy!

And what's better than mashed potatoes?  Oh, I know, MASHED CAULIFLOWER!  Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.  If you're hesitant, substitute in a little bit of potato: baby steps.

Mashed Cauliflower


Ingredients
1 head cauliflower                          4 cloves garlic, crushed/peeled
1/3 cup nonfat buttermilk*             2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp butter                                     1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese    Pepper to taste

1. Place cauliflower florets and garlic in a steamer basket over boiling water, cover and steam until very tender, 12-15 minutes.

2. Place cooked cauliflower/garlic in a food processor.  Add all other ingredients and process until smooth and creamy.  Enjoy!

*Note: No buttermilk?  Make "sour milk" by mixing 1 tbsp lemon juice to 1 cup of milk

Rosemary Peas


1. Cook frozen peas according to package directions and add rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Easy peasy!  (Get it...peasy?  Clever girl.)

And now you have a complete meal, from start to finish.  It can come together pretty quickly, but for more make-ahead ease, cook the cauliflower the day before and save the processing until day two.


1 comment:

  1. The stuffed chicken breasts are such a great idea! I am always looking for new chicken recipes! I will definitely be trying this one!

    ReplyDelete