Monday, April 29, 2013

Recipe: Paleo (ish) Stuffed Chicken...

Some nights, you just have to cook. No recipe, no real plan, just some ingredients, a glass of wine (obviously), some music, and the kitchen. It just screams stress relief to me. 

Life has been an adventure lately. Or a misadventure.. isn't that the name of this blog? So it should come as no surprise... I've started a new job, and I'm finally doing what I want to do, which is a blessing. But, it's at a very small (President and several contractors) company, and I work from home. Definitely a bit of a struggle and an adjustment. 

My training is still on track though! I've had a bit of a set back... of course one week before the half marathon... a touch of shin splints, or something. The muscles along my shin are knotted like you wouldn't believe! So I've had to have a bit of extra rest, but I'm ready! Except I need to choose my outfit still. That's important, right?

The shoes and green top don't exactly match, but I'm leaning toward a clashing-ish outfit of the Blue shorts and green top...  although right now, they're calling for a high of 54, low of 44, and chance of rain, which may lead to a long sleeve top. Oh, decisions...



Anyway... on to the recipe...

I had a great time, can't lie. Popped open an amazing Rose, and turned on the latest Michael Buble album on Spotify... great cooking music and I'm now obsessed with the song "Close Your Eyes". I invented as I went, and I'm glad to say this was not actually pronounced "blog-able". Mostly because the husband didn't stop chewing long enough to say anything to me!  

This recipe uses Organic Valley's Organic Cream Cheese. Again, we eat dairy in our house, so we find this acceptable. If you don't want it, leave it out. Or replace it with a goat cheese. The creaminess was really awesome, but it's (as always) up to you!

This serves 3, and I've left the ingredient list as such.. most likely, you'll want to double it.

Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 oz. organic cream cheese
  • 1/2 medium red onion
  • 2 large leafs of kale
  • 3 slices bacon
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • splash of olive or grapeseed oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Slice your red onion and separate the rings. Add to a saucepan and cook until they begin to brown. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and continue cooking until soft. Remove onions and put bacon in pan. Cook until browned, but not crisped.

Remove and set aside to cool. Pour grease out of pan, add just enough oil to coat (if you prefer, you can use a new pan, but why make a mess? Just wipe it out and use the same, already hot pan!). Add your kale and cook until it just begins to wilt. Turn off heat, but leave kale in pan. It will continue to cook down while you prep the chicken.




While your kale is cooking and bacon cooking, prepare your chicken breasts. Using a sharp knife, cut a slit in each one, but do not cut all the way through. Fold the breast open, then use a meat hammer to pound each one to no more than 1/2 inch thick.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and lay each chicken breast open on the sheet.

Spread one side of each chicken breast with cream cheese. Sprinkle with onions. Crumble bacon on top of the onion layer. Add kale as final layer.


Once the stuffing is in place, fold each chicken breast closed. Cook for approximately 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.  Eat. Do not speak to wife until finished. Only then may you proclaim this dish's awesomeness.







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