Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken

Many of the meals I cook are accidental. Last night I wanted to cook Greek Chicken Pasta, but unfortunately, I forgot to buy red onion at the store – red onion is essential. I ended up doing a recipe search with the ingredients I had on hand: chicken, feta, but no red onion. I browsed through and found one with spinach, and having just read an article on superfoods, I was craving spinach… or at least feeling guilted into eating some. This recipe is a derivation of one from Allrecipes.com.

Serves 4

4 chicken breasts
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup feta
8 strips bacon
3/4 cup chicken broth

In a bowl, mix the spinach, mayonnaise, garlic and feta. If mayo isn’t your thing, substitute with two eggs.

Butterfly the chicken but not all the way through (fancy way of saying split it open so you can stuff something inside).

Open the chicken breasts in a pan or on your cutting board and spoon a quarter of the spinach onto each one. I chose to do the smooth side of the breast down since I am not very good at butterflying the chicken and the rough side had holes in it.

Close the breasts back up and wrap two pieces of bacon around each breast, securing them with tooth pics.

Heat up a large skillet with a tablespoon of olive oil. I bring the temperature up to high, then reduce to medium-high.

Place the chicken breasts in skillet, drizzle tops with more olive oil, and let them cook for 4 minutes before carefully flipping them with tongs. It is okay if some of the stuffing falls out. Cook the other side for another 4 minutes and flip back over.

Add the chicken broth and reduce the temperature to medium and cover with a tight lid. Allow the chicken to simmer until the chicken is 165 deg F. The cooking time will vary depending on how thick the breasts are and how hot the pan is. Mine took 15-20 minutes.

When the chicken is fully cooked, set the chicken aside and continue to simmer the sauce for several minutes. With a spatula, loosen any of the yummy browned pieces of stuffing from the bottom of the pan.

Serve over pasta or with your favorite veggies.