Featured Recipe

Two featured recipes in one day! I must be hungry or something. This recipe was inspired by a recipe I found in an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook for Chicken Margherita (chicken breasts stuffed with bocconcini cheese (soft mozzarella), spinach, tomatoes and pesto and then wrapped in proscuitto and baked) which is really, really good, but we've recently discovered that my husband gets sick when he eats tomatoes and spinach. Unfortunate, but I can change. I wanted the taste of this chicken, but without using spinach or tomatoes. My version uses Monterrey Jack cheese, dried oregano and minced onion. Turned out awesome (and sooo cheesy)! It sounds a bit complicated, but it isn't really. Served it with Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad (which I'm also including the recipe for).

Cheesy Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (fillets attached)
8 slices prosciutto
8 slices Monterrey Jack cheese (about 5mm thick)
dried minced onion (about 2 tsp total)
dried oregano (about 2 tsp total)

Method:

1. Pound chicken with a mallet (the bottom of a heavy frying pan works too) until the chicken is an even thickness of about 1.5 cm
2. On the side of the breast opposite the fillet, make a horizontal cut down length of the breast with a sharp knife so that you have a pocket large enough to put a piece of cheese in. Be careful not to cut all the way through the chicken. Place a piece of cheese in the pocket you created and sprinkle with a bit of the onion and oregano. Fold the chicken over the cheese to enclose it in the pocket
3. Flip the breast over and place a second piece of cheese in the natural pocket between the breast and the fillet (you may need to use your knife to make the pocket big enough for the cheese). Sprinkle with the oregano and onion
4. Wrap 2 slices of prosciutto around the chicken breast enclosing the cheese. Place in a glass baking pan (brush with olive oil)
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 with the remaining chicken
6. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is cooked all the way through (should reach 165 degrees on a meat thermometer). The cheese will ooze out somewhat during cooking but that's ok, just scoop it out of the pan and spread in on top while it's still melty.

Warm Vegetable Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 each green and red peppers, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp each pepper and salt
1 tsp Johnny's Garlic Seasoning

Method:
1. Cook quinoa according to the package directions, but substitute the water for chicken broth
2. While the quinoa is cooking, sautee the peppers in the olive oil. sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5-7 minutes until the peppers are warm through but still crunchy. Add green onion and cook for 1 minute more
3. Mix veggies with quinoa and sprinkle on garlic seasoning. Stir and serve warm