Rolled Chicken Breasts

Because you really can't call them stuffed. They're not.

4 straight meals later, Doug and I have consumed all 3 lbs of turkey chili. That is embarrassing. BUT it allowed to me discover this delicious "stuffed" chicken.

Recipe here (with my modifications below):

Chicken Stuffed with Artichokes, Lemon and Goat Cheese -- Heather Averett, Cooking Light; The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook - Oxmoor House - 2009
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 of an inch thick
2.5 tablespoons breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (6 ounce) jar marinated & drained artichoke hearts, chopped
1 (3 ounce) package goat cheese
Cooking spray

Mix all ingredients but chicken and cooking spray. Spread over pounded chicken, roll chicken and secure with toothpicks. Heat large nonstick skillet, coat with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan, cooking 3 minutes on each side. Put entire skillet in the over at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, or until chicken is done.

I replaced the breadcrumbs with almond meal. Breadcrumbs were pretty much for texture here anyway so might as well replace with something healthy. Almond meal is obviously ground almonds, but the cool thing is that the oil has been pressed out - so most of the calories are gone but the nutrition content of the almond is left behind. Here are all my ingredients (stuffing already mixed):


You can see the almond meal bag in the back - and if you're wondering where you can get some of this awesome stuff...Trader Joes! Of course! I didn't have toothpicks, so I used some twine type stuff. I also decided that the chickens needed some breading, so I busted out my pastry brush and brushed them with diluted egg and rolled them in almond meal. I also used 1 tablespoon of olive oil instead of the cooking spray. Olive oil isn't really bad for you - it belongs in the same category as avocados or most nuts. A healthy fat with high nutrition content - but super high in calories and therefore should be consumed in moderation. 1 tablespoon was plenty to cover my pan.


Aren't they cute? More importantly (which you can't tell from the picture), they were delicious. I served with rice pilaf and some salad. Great weeknight dinner! I can't quite call my rolled chicken core diet friendly, because of the dairy. Boohoo. BUT they are gluten free with the almond meal substitution, so store this one away for your gluten free friends!