Spinach & Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken!

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving and spent lots of time being grateful and just ya know- full. :-) We had the best Thanksgiving in Illinois with my husband's family. A really, really good day with lots of really good food! We did a little bit of Black Friday shopping yesterday afternoon, didn't do the wake up at 4 am thing just went later on and still found some good deals. Today is all about football (GO NOLES!) and spending some more family time while we're still in Illinois! It is freezing here. Like, literally it's 29 degrees. Too chilly for this Florida girl! I see fuzzy socks and warm beverages in my future...

Went out to dinner with the hubbs & some friends last week and I had this "stuffed chicken" dish. It was meh- okay. The "stuffed" portion of the chicken was supposed to be cheese & spinach but it was really lacking. Might as well have given me a plain grilled chicken breast. So I decided to try my own spin on the stuffed chicken and put some actual filling into mine :) Turned out SO yummy. It was a pretty simple meal all together, but looked super impressive. Don't you love dinners like that? I always like it when it looks like I put in a ton of work, but really I got off pretty easy.  ;) Your family doesn't need to know that though! Take the praise and adoration, and eat your chicken too.

I used spinach & mozzarella because that's what I had on my mind, and in my refrigerator. You could use this same basic chicken stuffing idea though and use a different combo of flavors. Why not try some sun dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and chopped olives for a greek stuffed chicken? Or some pepper jack cheese and sliced jalapenos for a spanish version? Yum.

Ingredients: (3 LARGE servings)
3 chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
About 2 cups of baby spinach
A couple of slices of good mozzarella cheese (I used 5 slices)
3 teaspoons seasoned salt
Unwaxed Un-flavored Dental Floss (to hold your chickens together)

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium sized skillet heat olive oil on medium heat. Add your spinach and season with garlic powder and black pepper.

Step 2: Cook spinach down until it's all wilted. Leave heat on the pan to sear the chicken after it's stuffed.

Step 3: You're going to need to "butterfly" your chicken breasts. To do this, use a very sharp knife to cut down the center of the chicken breast, lengthwise, almost all the way through but not quite. Making a little bed for your stuffing mixture.

Step 4: Place cheese into opened chicken breast.

Step 5: Top cheese with 1/3 of your spinach mixture.

Step 6: Close your chicken breast over the cheese & spinach.

Step 7: Using your un-waxed, un-flavored dental floss tie together your new little chicken bundle. I used about 3 strips per breast.

Step 8: Season the outside of the chicken breast with seasoned salt.

Step 9: Place your chicken breasts into the hot skillet, not to cook them all the way through but just to sear the outsides for a minute or two until they get golden brown and pretty.

Step 10: Remove chicken breasts from skillet and place them in a oven- safe dish. Cook for 15- 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melted.

ENJOY!

  Have a good weekend! I'll be back next week starting with some holiday treats... ohh yeah it's that time of year! :-D