Chicken,  Food,  Healthy,  Vegetables

Artichoke & Feta Stuffed Chicken

February 7, 2011 /

What a depressing weekend for Steelers fans…I myself am a Steelers fan because I lived in PA for a while. I was closer to Philly, but I really didn’t like the Eagles…so I went with the other team. I went to college closer to Pittsburgh than Philly anyway. I was so disappointed, I really felt like Pittsburgh was the better team but because of interceptions and fumbles we just got killed. I think on everything else in the game the Steelers really outplayed the Packers. Especially on the run game…but Ben just threw those interceptions and every time he did the Packers monopolized and scored. That is super hard to recover from. 🙁 There is always next year and I still love my Steelers…good year boys!

This weekend was actually pretty busy for me. I went to New Hampshire with the Dance Company I have been dancing with and we took master classes all day and then there was a performance at night. It was really cool for the most part, some of the classes were a little….eh, well they were a little less advanced than the girls and I are used to. The ones that Urbanity Dance Company taught were really awesome! They seemed to really like our company too, so that was exciting. The bad part was the 3 hour drive we had to and from Plymouth College where the event was held. It started to snow while we were there, of course haha. It ended up taking us a whiiillle to get home! Basically I woke up at 4:30am on Saturday morning to get to the college and then didn’t get home until 1:30am the next morning. I am too old for that! And let me tell you, I was sore the next day! (still am actually haha)

Since I knew I was going to have a really intense and long Saturday I wanted to make something really savory and healthy the night before. I decided to look up a recipe because I think from time to time it is nice to go outside your normal comfort zone. I found a great recipe for stuffed chicken breasts on Cooking Light.com. Here is the yummy recipe…

Ingredients: (This makes a serving of 4)

  • 2  teaspoons  olive oil, divided
  • 3/4  cup  frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped
  • 1/4  cup  minced shallots (about 3)
  • 1/4  cup  (1 ounce) feta cheese
  • 1  teaspoon  dried thyme, divided
  • 1/4  teaspoon  salt, divided
  • 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper, divided
  • 4  (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
  • 1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
  • 2  teaspoons  cornstarch
  • Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
  • Lemon rind strips (optional)

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add artichokes and shallots; sauté 4 minutes. Remove from pan; cool. Stir in cheese, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.

Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each breast half to form a pocket. Stuff 2 tablespoons artichoke mixture into each pocket.

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken, and sprinkle with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper; sauté 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add 1/2 teaspoon thyme and broth to pan; bring to a boil. Combine juice and cornstarch; add to broth mixture, stirring with a whisk. Cook 1 minute or until thick. Return chicken to pan; cover and cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Garnish with parsley and lemon strips, if desired.

I paired this with some roasted red and sweet potatoes (recipe to come) and it was really good and flavorful. The only thing you have to do is really let the chicken stay in the pan without disturbing it. Low and slow is the motto here. You want to get a crust on the chicken but you want to make sure it cooks all the way through too. Just keep your stove on medium heat and really let the chicken cook for 6-7 minutes on each side to ensure that it is getting thoroughly cooked.

I think that this would also be very good if you paired it with some pasta. You could make a little extra of the sauce at the very end with the broth and it would be really tasty with some angel hair pasta. Want to know what one of the best parts of this meal is? The nutrition facts! You can’t get much better than that for something that tastes SO GOOD! :-)Check it out below:

Nutritional Information

Calories: 194 (25% from fat), Fat: 5.3g (sat 1.8g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.6g), Protein: 29.2g, Carbohydrate: 6.2g, Fiber: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 72mg, Iron: 1.4mg, Sodium: 437mg, Calcium: 61mg

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