Art-i-Chicken

I will undoubtedly run out of creative blog titles to make my recipes seem more interesting. I just feel that cooking something halfway decent is an art – and the (somewhat rare) successes deserve colorful titles.

A dear, sweet, thoughtful friend staked out the perfect cookbook for me and sent it to me for my birthday. It's full of recipes that are simple, delicious, and amenable to my own Paleo modifications. The following recipe was adapted from Cooking Light's Dinner Tonight Cookbook.

Chicken Breasts stuffed with Artichokes & Goat Cheese

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons almond flour (the perfect breadcrumb substitute) seasoned with

2 tsp. italian herb blend  OR any favorite tasty herbs (oregano and thyme come to mind)

2 tsp. grated lemon peel

pinch of salt

bigger pinch of black pepper

One jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

3 ounces goat cheese

2-3 chicken breasts, pounded thin

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients (except the chicken breasts) in a bowl. Spoon several spoonfuls of the cheese/artichoke mixture onto the chicken breasts and roll up. Cook on the stove in a frying pan on medium heat for about 3 minutes per side to lock in the juices (I'm still getting used to this part), then transfer to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes or so.

I added my own Paleo-friendly side-dish, once again turning to the Spaghetti Squash. This time I cut the squash in half lengthwise and placed the squash, cut-sides down, in a glass baking dish with a bit of water in the bottom. I baked for 40 minutes and tossed on the stove with pan-wilted spinach.

Delicious, fast, filling, and homemade! Makes me happy.