These days I’m all about the quick, healthy meals. That mostly stems from both NGHubby and me looking to lighten up our loads a bit (aka lose weight). So, I want quick meals because our after-work walk moves dinner prep ever so close to that 7 o’clock hour and we’d like to eat before 8. You know how it goes. I want healthy meals, well, for obvious reasons. So, we’ve now focused our dinners on lots of vegetables with an emphasis on spinach, very rare starches, fish, and, of course, meat of all kinds. Sure we could cut to lean meats only, but we frankly just love our beef tenderloins and pork ribs way too much for that.
We have, however, added more chicken breasts to the rotation. This latest recipe is a departure from a Rachel Ray recipe I found by Googling spinach stuffed chicken breast. It’s not extremely healthy, but pretty darn close while tasting really good. It starts with two chicken breasts (imagine that) that gets pounded thin. Well, problem #1, our chicken is frozen. So I cut a slit for the stuffing instead. Setting that aside for now, we heat a bit of butter (about a tablespoon) over medium heat with a clove of garlic, onion, and lots of mushrooms. Problem #2, NGHubby hates onions. Problem #2A, NGHubby hates mushrooms. So I used garlic and sun-dried tomatoes instead which made for a great taste in the end. Once the butter is frothy, and the garlic and tomatoes are cooked to your liking, remove the pan from heat and dump it all into a bowl of spinach with a cup of ricotta cheese. Problem #3, there’s no ricotta in my fridge. So I used just a tablespoon of light sour cream just to help everything stay together a bit. Now, take the chicken that you carefully pounding out or carelessly cut a slit, lay it out, and stuff it with the spinach-tomato mixture. Put a tablespoon of oil in the pan you used earlier, and place it over medium-high heat. Back to the chicken, use a toothpick or three to hold it all together, and place it in the pan on the stove. Cook for about 10-12 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked) turning to brown all sides. When it’s all set, remove the stuffed chicken from the pan and return the pan to the stove. Now it’s time for the not-so-healthy but so delicious part. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter and the same amount of flour to the pan. Whisk it around, and then add some broth (about 1/2 cup). I didn’t have broth, so I just used water (which contains much less sodium anyway, plus you should have plenty of chicken drippings left in the pan that nothing more tasty than water is needed). Whisk the gravy until it’s nicely mixed, and then return the chicken to the pan until ready to serve, aka you refill your glass of wine (well, we’re eating healthier so that means a second glass of wine, right?).
Give it a try sometime for a decently healthy meal that feels like a major splurge! Here’s the original Rachel Ray recipe if you want to try it “by the book.”
But what really makes it work is that he likes doing the extra household work. Having less time has taught forced me to give up some of the responsibility which NGHubby has happily picked up.