Not Your Everyday Boring Chicken Recipe

Last night's new recipes were two for two. I thought it would be hard to top the salad but the main dish swooped in unexpectedly and stole the spotlight. I made Chicken Breast Stuffed with Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese also from the October 2007 issue of Cooking Light. This recipe alone was worth the entire cost of the magazine (even though you can get it for free on www.myrecipes.com.) This dish uncontestedly has squeezed its way into my top five favorite chicken recipes. (Don't ask me what the other five are but I know at least one of them is Rachael Ray's Quick Chick and Noodle Soup.) We ended up eating dinner kind of late because I forgot that it was going to take an hour to roast the garlic so did not get started as early as I should have but it was worth the wait. We will definitely have this recipe again. And again. And again.

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Garlic and Herbed Goat Cheese

Roasting the garlic mellows its bite and gives the stuffing a subtle hint of flavor. Stuff the chicken breasts up to a day ahead, refrigerate, and cook them just before guests arrive. Garnish each plate with a rosemary sprig.

Ingredients

1 whole garlic head
1/3 cup (3 ounces) goat cheese with herbs, softened
6 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Remove white papery skin from garlic head (do not peel or separate the cloves). Wrap head in foil. Bake at 350° for 1 hour; cool 10 minutes. Separate cloves; squeeze to extract garlic pulp. Discard skins. Combine garlic pulp and cheese, stirring well; set aside.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff about 4 teaspoons cheese mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle chicken evenly on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn chicken over. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°; let stand 5 minutes.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: 1 stuffed chicken breast half)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 238(31% from fat); FAT 8.1g (sat 3.3g,mono 2.9g,poly 1.1g); PROTEIN 37.3g; CHOLESTEROL 101mg; CALCIUM 46mg; SODIUM 292mg; FIBER 0.2g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 1.9g

Georgeanne Brennan , Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2007