Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Simplicity

So last week was sort of nightmarish for me in the kitchen. First, I put a coffee-rubbed brisket in the crockpot and forgot to add water. The roast was delicious but sort of dry. And then there was the chicken recipe. While standing in the Whole Foods cheese section, I sampled an amazing olive tapenade and was inspired to create a chicken dish. The ingredient list for the tapenade included cream cheese and feta, so I grabbed a hunk of feta from the cheese fridge and decided to substitute mascarapone for the cream cheese.

Big mistake. HUGE.

I stuffed chicken breasts with a gloppy mix of mascarpone, feta, raw spinach, and olives. It was awful. I mean really awful.

I wanted a rematch, however, and this week I simplified the whole dish. The result is a dish that tasted delicious and probably delivered less calories and fat than the gross original version. I also peeled and chopped some black salsify, and sliced up some kale, doused them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and let them cook on the same tray as the chicken for the first 10 minutes. Then I removed the roasted kale and salsify and let the chicken continue to cook. Tasty!

Chicken stuffed with feta, spinach, and olives

2 large chicken breasts
2 tbsp crumbled feta
3 cups of fresh spinach
1/2 cup kalamata olives
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil spray or a misto
Salt and pepper
Toothpicks

- Preheat oven to 375
- Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray or a misto
- Butterfly the two chicken breasts and salt/pepper both sides
- In a skillet, heat up a little bit of olive oil and saute the garlic before adding the spinach. Cook until all spinach is wilted.
- Stuff each chicken breast with half of the spinach and garlic, feta, and olives. Use toothpicks to keep the breasts closed.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then carefully flip and cook for another 15 minutes or until breast meat is fully-cooked.

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