creamy stuffed chicken & roasted asparagus


I credit this recipe to my friend since the 4th grade and coworker Blair. She calls it “Cream Cheese Chicken Bundles.” I call it “Cheesy Chicken Bundles” because I can’t ever seem to get the name right. Whatever. It is the best chicken recipe I have tried lately and you can call it healthy since it is stuffed with leafy greens and you can use reduced fat other ingredients:

Ingredients

4 oz cream cheese, softened (I use the reduced fat)
1 pckg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach. thawed, well drained
1 1/4 cups shredded low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella Cheese, divided
6 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
6 small boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
1 egg
10 Ritz crackers, crushed (I used the reduced fat version of these too)
1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

Directions
1. Preheat ofen to 375 F. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup mozz. cheese and 3 Tbsp Parm cheese until well blended. Spread evenly onto chicken breasts.
2. Starting at one end of the breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothbpicks.
3. Beat egg in shallow bowl. Mix remaining 3 Tbsp Parm cheese and cracker crumbs in seperate shallow bowl. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place seam-side down in 13×9 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Bake 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Remove & discard toothpicks. Serve topped with spaghetti sauce and remianing 1/4 cup mozz cheese.
Yield: 6 servings

The first time I made this, I totally had to improvise; I had nothing to pound out the chicken with, so I used a cheap bottle of wine (so I wouldn’t be sad if it broke) and, of course, had no toothpicks, but it turned out fantastic anyway. Tom and I omit the spaghetti sauce. It just doesn’t need it.

This time we had it with the fabulous Hasselback Potatoes (previously listed) and Tom’s famous asparagus (I hated asparagus until I had it this way) which consists of:

Ingredients:
however much asparagus you want
enough olive oil to coat it
as much garlic as you like
kosher salt

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Break woody ends off aspargus.
3) Bathe the asparagus in plastic ziploc bag with enough olive oil to coat each piece and the garlic. Added bonus if you grate the garlic.
4) Spread out evenly on baking sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt.
5) Bake for around 20 min (less if they’re skinny, or you get asparagus fries), until tender, but a little crisp on the outside.

YUM.
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2 Responses to creamy stuffed chicken & roasted asparagus

  1. Beth Anne says:

    SHOUT OUT HOLLAR!p.s. longest post title ever, congratulations on such a feat.

  2. Anonymous says:

    All these dishes look great! Maybe Kathleen will make one of these scrumptious meals for her parents over the holidays!! hint hint!Bam, Bam,Love Dad

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