BM#3 Day 2: Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

Last week, as I was blog hopping I came across this post and it inspired me to make this chicken. I did not follow her recipe. I am not very fond of the chicken we get here in the US and especially the boneless breast pieces. I prefer boned pieces to the boneless pieces. I was hesitant to try the recipe and was not sure if the meat would be spicy enough, as the breast pieces are usually very thick. I googled for some stuffed chicken breast recipes. Most of the recipes used cheese and that was a no no for me. We have been eating healthy for the last 6-7 days, and I did not want to break the streak. Some of the recipes called for butterflying the breast piece, flattening it with meat mallet before stuffing it. That kind of appealed to me and next step was to decide the stuffing. After reading a few recipes, I decided to go with spinach stuffing and I followed my spinach fry recipe. I did not fry the spinach too much, just sautéed it until it wilted and is cooked. It will any continue to cook along with the chicken, when I grill the chicken. I made it on Monday and it turned out wonderful. It was so good that we decided to have it again for dinner last night. I grilled the chicken in my grill pan and it can also be baked in the oven. I have not tried baking it yet but came across lot of recipes online that baked the chicken.

Total Time: 30 - 45 minutes
Preparation: 10 - 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 - 25 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 3 pieces or 0.90 lbs. Boneless Chicken Breasts
• ½ tbsp. – 1 tbsp. Oil for grilling

Stuffing

• 6 oz. Spinach chopped
• 1 tbsp. Oil
• 1 medium sized Onion chopped
• 4-6 Green Chilies chopped (adjust to taste)
• 1 tbsp. Garlic crushed
• 1 tsp. Ginger Garlic paste
• ½ - 1 tsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• ¾ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)

Rub:

• ½ tbsp. Oil
• 1 tsp. Chili Powder
• ⅜th tsp. (¼ + ⅛) Pepper Powder

Coating:

• 1 Egg White lightly beaten with pinch of salt & chili powder
• ¼ cup Wheat Flour or Atta seasoned with pinch of salt & chili powder
• ¼ cup Bread Crumbs seasoned with pinch of salt & chili powder

Preparation:

• Heat oil in a pan and sauté onions and green chilies until the onion turns light golden color.
• Add remaining ingredients except spinach and mix well.
• Add spinach and cook for until it withers. The entire cooking should take 8-10 minutes.

  

• Trim off the fat from the chicken breasts. Butterfly the pieces.
• Using a mallet or a heavy object, pound it to flatten the chicken pieces.

  

• Spread the spinach over the chicken. Don’t over spread it as we do not want to over stuff the chicken. You will have a little bit of spinach leftover.
• Roll over or fold the chicken to its original shape. Using two tooth picks, join the opening of the breast. Do this for all the pieces.

  

• Rub the chili powder mixture all over the breast pieces.
• Heat a grill pan with some oil.
• Take the bread crumbs, flour and egg whites in three different plates.
• Dip the chicken pieces one by one in flour, egg white and coat it with bread crumbs. Carefully place it on the grill.
• Repeat it for the rest of the breast pieces.
• Grill the chicken breasts on high for 2 minutes on each side, then reduce the heat to medium and cover the pan.
• Cook on medium flame for 6-10 minutes turning the chicken pieces every 1-2 minutes. Make sure the chicken doesn’t burn. Cook until the meat is cooked.
• Transfer to a platter and let them rest for 2-5 minutes. Slice the breasts pieces and serve them with some salad.

This is my entry to Food Palette Series: Brown
This month that year:The recipes I posted this month in 2009 and in 2010

Now over to my fellow marathoners,
30 Minutes Meals: Gayathri Anand
Baked Goods: Monika,
For On Going Events: Gayathri Kumar
Kids Friendly: PJ, Savitha, Smitha, Srivalli, Veena Aravind
Rice Varieties: Champa, Divya, Padma