Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Broccoli and Swiss Cheese


A few months back we made a chicken breast baked with swiss cheese that was pegged by my son as the "best thing" I made so far, so we decided we had to bring it back in some way or another. We decided to stuff the breast this time with the cheese and more importantly a vegetable to keep it super healthy. Broccoli was our choice, but honestly asparagus, spinach, artichoke would all work beautifully. The breasts needed to be sliced from the side inorder to create a pocket. I did slice them all, but kind of poorly(notice in picture- the broccoli coming out)however, when the breast were baked, it all came together with big servings of protein and calcium from the cheese and the broccoli. I am oh so certain that Kims chicken looks better then mine. Oh well, presentation not my strong suit.

ingredients
6 chicken breasts fresh or frozen
1 1/2 cup broccoli pieces
3 slices swiss cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon parsley

slice a pocket in each chicken breast and season with salt and pepper
stuff brocolli and 1/2 slice cheese inside chicken breasts
if need to keep closed when cooking, do so with a toothpick
place in baking pan
coat wine and olive oil over all six breasts
sprinkle with parsley
bake in oven aat 340 for 20-25 minutes

Here's Kim's picture:
So, Barbara is fancier than I - I stuffed the broccoli and swiss inside my chicken - you can see the broccoli poking out - closed it "perfectly" but then just sauted it a frying pan without the olive oil, wine, or parsley.  I'm too simple.  I did achieve a fabulous golden color by sauting uncovered in my new Calphalon frying pan for seven minutes, flipping gently, then continuing to cook, covered, for four minutes.  Then, I removed the cover and let the moisture that had collected on the cover to drop back into the pan - cooking for another four minutes and thus the golden color appeared all over my wonderful stuffed chicken.  It was a huge hit with Joe, Ellie and me - the little ones just ate the chicken and cheese.  Were I not so concerned with keeping this meal within the confines of my current "eating program", I would have laid another piece of swiss cheese on top of the chicken and thrown it in the overn for 4 minutes for a beautiful melted goo on top of the chicken!
My biggest tip for Barbara, after looking at her picture and thinking about what I did is to chop the broccoli finer than it appears she did (we're talking dime or smaller size pieces here!).  It stuffs much easier! 

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