Thursday, April 28, 2011

Low Carb Lovin'

Yesterday was yet another long day as days often seem to be when you’re coming up on a much-needed vacation. And for me, cooking is a great way to zone out and relax. No--seriously! Nothing calms me down more than chopping veggies :).

There’s a dish I used to eat all the time at Uno’s during the low carb craze – Baked Stuffed Chicken. I thought I’d revisit it since it contains so many ingredients I love: mozzarella, broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, basil…what’s not to like? Best of all, it’s pretty dang healthy—a good thing given that since our wedding, Brandon’s lost a record amount of weight and for me, just the opposite! Those boys and their metabolisms.

Anyhow, I found a few attempts online to replicate Uno’s recipe and adapted them to my taste. So I made it last night for Brand-o and we both loved it!! Only one thing I changed in the recipe below--more cheese! We both agreed we wanted a bit more gooey mozzarella to pull the whole thing together.

So, here we go:

Goodness-Stuffed Chicken

Makes 8 generous servings.

1 head broccoli, chopped
4 roma tomatoes, diced
2 cups baby spinach, shredded
4 tablespoons basil, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups low-fat mozzarella cheese (we like a LOT of cheese)
8 chicken breasts
  1. Preheat oven to 375°.
  2. Combine all ingredients (except chicken) in a large bowl, reserving one cup mozzarella.
  3. Wash and dry chicken. Butterfly chicken breasts by cutting in from the side—do not cut all the way through.
  4. Place chicken between two sheets of parchment paper. Using a mallet, pound meat until thin, working from the middle out.
  5. Place first butterflied chicken breast in baking dish, spoon a generous amount of stuffing on top, and fold the chicken over. Secure with toothpicks if necessary. Some stuffing may spill out, and that’s fine. Repeat for the remaining breasts. Any leftover stuffing can just fill in around the breasts in the baking dish.
  6. Sprinkle mozzarella over chicken breasts.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes.
Roma tomatoes work well because they're not as juicy as beefsteak tomatoes. 

Clearly not enough cheese! But look at all that green -- YUM!




Et voila! You’ve got yourself a scrumptious meal packed with veggies and protein. I also whipped up some instant whole grain rice for a healthy side. You know--gotta fatten Brandon up somehow ;).

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