Our quest to eat healthier has also changed the way we look at recipes. And since Brian tends to be quite a bit pickier when it comes to healthy foods, I let him pick a bunch of recipes that he thought sounded good.
Imagine my surprise when he printed a recipe from the Food Network for Spicy Kale and Corn Stuffed Chicken Breasts.
Kale? Brian? This does not compute.
Shockingly, not only did he like it, but he said I should definitely add it to the “favorites” section of my recipe binder!
Of course I tinkered with the recipe a bit, so here goes.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- About 4 oz FRESH kale (the orignal recipe called for frozen)
- 3 cloves of minced garlic
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup frozen corn (we would have used fresh if it were in season)
- 3 oz peper jack cheese
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp flour
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
And here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Heat a small amount of oil in a large skillet. Add the kale, garlic and salt. Cook until the kale has softened, about five minutes.
- Add the corn and cook an additional two minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool, then add cheese.
- Cut a thin slit in the side of each chicken breast, making a small pocket. Stuff each one with the kale/corn mixture. Rub each with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper
- Heat the large skillet until very hot, add chicken. Cook on high for about two minutes, then reduce heat to medium, cooking until 165 degrees or until juices run clear. (ours took quite a while since they were, erm, large breasts…
- Transfer the chicken onto plates or a serving platter. Stir flour and broth together and add to the skillet. Cook, stirring, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice, then pour over the chicken.
That’s it! It might seem a bit complicated, but it was pretty easy to make. My only changes next time would be to purchase thinner chicken breasts (I just used what we already had, and they were a bit bigger than I think would be best for this recipe) and I’d make sure the chicken was fully thawed before starting (I pulled the chicken from the freezer the day before, but didn’t make sure it was fully thawed until right when I started dinner… oops)!
Other than that, this dish will definitely be added to our regular rotation. The fun part is how much you can change it up – this time we had it with quinoa, but I’m sure it would also be amazing over couscous, potatoes, or any root veggie really!
