Chicken Stuffed with Garlic and Goat Cheese

I'm finally back posting. Honestly I've been cooking a lot lately, trying all kinds of new recipes. Unfortunately I've had a string of ho-hum dishes unworthy of sharing. But here is my latest discovery, it is so good and much simpler than it sounds.

1 whole head of garlic
1/3 cup goat cheese with herbs (3 ounces), left at room temperature to soften
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts halves (I did 3 large ones)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 teaspoons olive oil

Roast the garlic earlier in the day (for an awesome step-by-step guide, check out this link How to Roast Garlic from a fabulous cook in my ward here).

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl combine garlic pulp and goat cheese, set aside.

Make a horizontal cut into the thickest part of the chicken breast to form a sort of "pocket" and stuff 3-4 teaspoons of cheese into each breast. (I stuffed all the cheese mixture into my 3 pieces of chicken, more is better I think). Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large skillet, add chicken and cook 3 minutes, until browned. Turn chicken over and put skillet in the oven. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 160. Cover and let rest for 5-10 minutes, serve warm.

Pesto Chicken

This a one of our family standby's. Super fast and really good.

4 large or 6 small chicken breasts
1 cup prepared pesto
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1-1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray. Trim chicken breasts and place in pan. In a bowl, mix pesto and mustard then spoon over chicken. Sprinkle with desired amount of cheese. Bake in oven until center of chicken reaches 160 degrees, about 20-25 minutes.

I made this tonight for dinner but forgot to snap a picture. For those of you not too familiar with pesto, it looks a little like green barf but don't let that turn you off to it. Note to Katie - I made this a few years ago when at home and Skyler hated it even though he was too kind to actually tell me so (I'm not sure he actually tried it, but he didn't eat it). Maybe he'll be less afraid now, maybe not.

Southwest Rice and Bean Salad

This is one of those recipes that I would NEVER choose to make if it hadn't been recommended to me by someone I trust (aka my sis). But it is awesome. We probably eat it too much.

This recipe comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. It serves 8-10.

Salad:
*5 cups cooked rice, warm or at room temp (that's about 2 cups uncooked. ish. sort of.)
*2 teaspoons salt
*1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
*1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
*2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
*1 (12 oz.) can corn, drained
*4 green onions, chopped

Dressing:
*1/4 cup fresh lime juice (I've used fresh lemon juice and it tastes just as good)
*2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
*2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
*2/3 cup canola oil
*2 teaspoons chili powder
*1 teaspoon cumin

Combine all salad ingredients in large bowl. Combine dressing ingredients together and pour over salad. Mix well to combine. Serve warm or room temp ( I prefer warm, Sky prefers cold).

Cilantro Lime Empanadas

This is another winner from Sweat Pea. I love that I get to hide vegetables in a fun package, even though hope to some day not have to. I've only made this with taco seasoning, but if I can find the Penzey's spice I'm getting it. I highly recommend the salsa, sour cream with a little fresh cilantro dip at the end. These are very hot when they first come out so be careful.

Easy Cilantro Lime Empanadas

1 package frozen filo, thawed (they usually come with two separate rolls, you will only need one)
1 -12 oz package frozen pureed butternut squash
1 - 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Arizona Dreaming seasoning (a new Penzeys spice mixture, or you can use taco seasoning)
4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of one lime
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the filo on a counter and cut it in half lengthwise and be sure to cover with a barely damp cloth when you are not working with it.

In a medium bowl, mix the squash, black beans, salt and seasoning. With a pastry blender or the back of a large fork, smash the mixture together, breaking up the beans a bit while you do so. Add the cream cheese, cilantro and lime, and mix well until everything is fully incorporated.

Take 2-3 sheets of the filo and place 2 tablespoons of the cilantro lime mixture at one end like this:


Fold in triangles, much like you would fold a flag, like this:


Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat liner:


Brush with a bit of oil or spray with cooking spray. Repeat until the filling is gone.

Bake 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned.

Makes about 18.

Serve with sour cream, salsa and a touch more cilantro:

Falafel with Yogurt Tahini Sauce

I got this recipe off of one of my favorite food blogs (Sweet Pea), it was completely outside the realm of things I've ever made before. I burned the first couple, I'm still trying to master pan-frying, but the rest were really good. The kids were afraid but Neil and I both really liked them.



Falafel:
2 - 15 oz cans of garbanzo beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
4-6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
vegetable oil

In a food processor, combine all ingredients except the flour. Pulse until the mixture is chopped (you may have to scrape the sides of the food processor a few times to help) into small pieces.

Add a few tablespoons of flour and pulse again. You want the mixture to resemble very coarse sand or small pebbles and to be able to be formed into small patties. If necessary, add a couple more tablespoons of flour.

Shape into 10-12 individual 2 inch wide disks (think slider burger size). If cooking immediately, set in the fridge for a few minutes or you can store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to use. They can be made up to 2 days in advance.

Heat a large skillet to high. Pour in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan about 1/4 inch high. Add the falafel patties and cook for 4-5 minutes. Flip, repeat.

Serve in a pita with yogurt tahini sauce (see recipe below) or hummus, tzatziki or just lettuce and sliced tomatoes.



Mmmm...delish!

Serves 4

Yogurt Tahini Sauce:
1 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
2 tablespoons tahini*
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients.

Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Enchilada bake

We had this the other night for dinner and it was delicious and easy. I got the recipe from Picky Palate. It calls for precooked chicken, so be sure to factor that in for time.


Ingredients:


*2 cups uncooked rice, white or wheat
*2 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast

*One 15-ounce can mild green enchilada sauce
*One 4-ounce can sliced black olives
*One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
*1/2 cup sour cream
*1 teaspoon kosher salt
*1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
*1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
*One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
*2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cook rice according to package directions.
3. Place chicken, enchilada sauce, olives, tomatoes, sour cream, salt, pepper and cumin into a large bowl, mixing to combine. Pour cooked rice into prepared baking dish and layer beans on top of rice. Pour chicken mixture over rice and top evenly with cheddar cheese. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until cheese is melted and rice is hot.

***Next time I make this, I'll probably mix in the beans and rice with the chicken mixture just to make everything a little more moist before putting it in the pan and topping it with cheese. I'd also switch out the diced tomatoes for a 1/2 cup of salsa.