Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast

I'm always looking for new ways to enjoy Chicken Breasts and today I decided to stuff one with sauteed spinach and goat cheese. Stuffing chicken is always fun because the possibilities are endless. Not a fan of goat cheese? Try some swiss instead! The beauty of this recipe is you also get a side dish of sauteed spinach to go with the chicken!

Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast: Serves 2

2 Chicken Breasts (approx 10oz each) - boneless / skinless
2oz Goat Cheese
12oz Fresh Spinach - Rinsed & Patted Dry
1/2C Onions - Diced
1tsp Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves - Minced
4 Strips Bacon
Salt & Pepper

In a large saute pan heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes allowing the onions to turn translucent. Add the spinach with some salt and pepper and toss with the onions. Cover with a lid and let the spinach wilt down tossing occasionally. Once wilted set to the side.

Next we need to prepare the chicken breasts. I like to pound the chicken out to a uniform thickness of approximately 1/4". To do this put the chicken between 2 pieces of wax paper and using either a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pan gently pound the chicken in the thickest parts to create an even piece of meat. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.

Now we are ready to assemble the chicken. In the center of each breast place approximately 1-2TB of spinach with 1oz of goat cheese -make sure to not touch the spinach in the pan with a utensil that has touched the raw chicken. Fold the edges of the chicken over the stuffing and then take a piece of bacon and wrap it around the seam of the breast, then take another piece of bacon and wrap it in the other direction creating a cross. Place the chicken in a greased baking pan with the ends of the bacon facing down. Retain the left over spinach in the pan until you bring the chicken out of the oven, you can then turn the stove back on and reheat the spinach as a side dish.

Bake the chicken at 375° for approximately 30-35 minutes. Depending on the thickness of your chicken will determine the baking time.

Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes (cover the pan with foil when it comes out of the oven). Then serve with left over spinach and enjoy this creamy healthy and filling meal.

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WW: 11 Points Plus / serving

Flat Bread Pizza with Ricotta & Summer Vegetables

I went to school in Central Vermont where finding a chain restaurant can be extremely difficult (much to my delight!), instead you find these wonderful independently owned restaurants with the most fresh and wonderful foods. One of my all time favorites places was an hour away, over a dirt road mountain pass that always had my brakes screaming for a reprieve by the bottom of the mountain. American Flatbread is an all organic operation that is only open to the public on the weekends and let me tell you - it is worth the sometimes two hour wait to get a pie! At their Waitsfield, VT location they have two large fire pits on the farm that you can sit at with your glass of wine and enjoy nature while you wait for your table. The only problem with American Flatbread is that they are in Vermont and I am in Maryland and because of that I am going to try to make my own American Flatbread inspired pizza!

Now I just needed a great flat bread dough recipe. Conveniently a cousin of mine and her husband are running a video cooking show called Natural Fusion Videos, where they are teaching you their recipes while demonstrating them and one of the first videos I watched was on how to make your own flat bread pizza. The recipe below is for half of the dough they call for (original recipe makes enough for 2 - 14" pizzas approximately ). Please feel free to check out their site as well for new ideas and demonstrations, they are just getting started but already have a great handful of tasty videos up.

Flat Bread Pizza with Ricotta & Summer Vegetables: Serves 3-4

1C Flour
1/2tsp Salt
1-1/2tsp Baking Powder
1-1/2tsp Vegetable Shortening
1/3C Milk
1C Mozzarella (I am using part skim)
1/2C Ricotta
2tsp Olive Oil
2-3 Large Onions - Thinly Sliced
8oz Fresh Spinach
1 Zucchini - Sliced
1C Tomato Sauce
1TB Fresh Basil (or 1tsp dried)
1 Garlic Clove - Minced
Salt & Pepper

Place olive oil and onions with some salt in pepper in a large saute pan over medium heat and caramelize the onions for 30 minutes until they turn a nice deep golden brown, add the zucchini to the pan with some salt and pepper and cook with the onions for an additional 10 minutes .

While the vegetables are cooking we can make our dough. In a bowl use an electric mixer and mix flour, salt, baking powder, vegetable shortening and milk until the dough has fully incorporated all ingredients and pulled away from the bowl. Remove the dough to a floured surface and with a rolling pin roll it out, then fold the edges in towards the center and roll it out again. Repeat this step once more, then move your dough to a pizza pan and stretch to fit the shape of your pan (make sure to grease the pan). The folding and rolling method is something I learned on Natural Fusion which helps to make clean edges on the pizza instead of rough ones.

Now lets make our sauce. Mix together tomato sauce, basil, garlic and some salt and pepper and place in a small sauce pot and bring to a low simmer and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Now for the fun part! Time to assemble. Remove the sauce from the heat and spread evenly over the dough (I only used 1/2C of the sauce but I don't like a lot of sauce on my pizza). Next place the spinach down, I know it looks like a lot but trust me it will wilt down virtually paper thin. Add the ricotta cheese in little dollops all over followed by the mozzarella, ending with the caramelized vegetables on top. Place in a 480° oven for 15 minutes. Remove, slice into 8 slices and enjoy!

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WW:11 Points Plus / serving @ 3 slices
7 Points Plus / serving @ 2 slices
4 Points Plus / serving @ 1 slice

French Onion Shepherds Pie

A few weeks ago I made a recipe for French Onion Meatloaf (originally from Rachael Ray) with a few modifications and found it to be an absolute delight. Many of you tried it with wonderful results saying that you would be making that gravy over and over again, possibly even adding mushrooms to it to add another level of flavor. I was so impressed with it I thought the next time I make it I'll make meatballs and serve with the gravy over mashed potatoes when my moment of genius struck... French Onion Shepherds Pie. You are welcome. This is a fantastic casserole that is delicious and decadent the day you make it and beyond words as left overs. I hope you will give it a shot! For my classic Shepherds Pie click here.

French Onion Shepherds Pie: Serves 6-8

1lb Ground Beef - I'm using 93% Lean
2TB Worcestershire Sauce
1/2tsp Onion Powder
Salt & Pepper
3 Large Onions - Thinly Sliced
1TB Olive Oil
1/4tsp Ground Thyme
1 Bay Leaf
2TB Flour
14oz Can Beef Broth
1/2C White Wine (Optional)
1TB Butter
3-4 Medium Red Potatoes (approx 1.5lbs)
1/4C Sour Cream - I use Daisy's Light
1/4C Milk
1C Peas - Frozen
1C Corn - Frozen
1C Carrots - Thinly Sliced

In a sauce pot over medium low – medium heat add 1TB oil, onions, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Slowly cook for approximately 30 minutes, stirring often and caramelizing the onions. You want to be careful not to burn the onions, rather slowly cook them so they turn a nice caramel brown color. Once the onions have finished caramelizing add the flour and stir then add the beef stock and continue stirring, bringing up to a low simmer and letting the sauce thicken. Keep over low heat while you finish the recipe.

In a large saute pan over medium heat add beef, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper. Brown the beef and drain. While the beef is in a colander pour the wine into the saute pan and return to the heat, with a spatula scrape the bottom of the pan to get any loose bits off the bottom. Add the onion sauce to the pan along with the beef and carrots. Allow to cook for 5-6 minutes at a simmer. Add the peas & corn, stir then pour into a 13x9 pan.

While the onions are caramelizing and the meat cooking you can get started on the mashed potatoes. Scrub the potatoes clean, cut into 1/2" chunks (I like to leave the skins on but you are welcome to peel them if you would like) and run under cold water for a moment to remove any excess starch. Place in a sauce pot and cover with cold water. Add approximately 1tsp of salt to the water and bring to a boil. Cook until fork tender, drain and add butter, milk, sour cream, salt and pepper to the potatoes, mash by hand or with an electric mixer but be careful to not over mix or they will get gummy.

Carefully spread the mashed potatoes over the meat mixture, lightly swirl a fork through the potatoes to create some ridges then place in a 400° oven for 30-35 minutes until the potatoes start to brown on the top. I actually made the filling the yesterday and put in the refrigerator and added mashed potatoes today, this is definitely something you can fully make ahead of time, refrigerate or freeze, then thaw and bake. If you live alone like me and are not going to be sharing the meal with a friend or two you can also make this in (2) 8x8 pans and freeze one before baking, and cook the other.

Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. Scoop into a bowl and enjoy!

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WW: 8 Points Plus / serving @ 6 servings
6 Points Plus / serving @ 8 servings
FYI - Points values do not change if you omit the wine.

Good News WW Folks

After many requests I am going back through each and every recipe and adding Points Plus Values. Please note that these are based off of my own calculations and I highly suggest you run each recipe you try through the recipe builder so you can be sure of complete accuracy.

I am hoping to have all recipes with Points Plus values by the end of the weekend. If you look at the bottom of each recipe you will see my Points Plus value. If I give a range of servings I have figured the points for each end of the range.

Please read more on calculating points here.

Maryland Shrimp Macaroni Salad

Summer in Maryland means Steamed Crabs, Corn on the Cobb, Steamed Shrimp, and Macaroni Salad. All four of these items use one common ingredient: Old Bay. For those of you not in or near Maryland you may not be familiar with Old Bay. It is a spice mix of many ingredients that combined create a great spicy salt seasoning that is fantastic on the items above as well as chicken, potatoes, and pretty much anything else you would use salt on.

This weekend I am going to my first Crab Feast of the season at a BBQ at my Sisters. Whenever my family gets together everyone brings something and my dish is the families Maryland Shrimp Macaroni Salad. It takes your standard Macaroni Salad and adds Steamed Shrimp with some additional Old Bay for a slightly spicy kick to this decadent version of a classic recipe.

Maryland Shrimp Macaroni Salad: Serves 10 as a side dish

1lb Pasta - I like to use Medium Shells
1lb Shrimp - Shells On
2TB Old Bay
1/2C Water
1/2C Distilled Vinegar
1C - 1-1/4C Hellman's Mayonnaise
1/2C Celery - Diced
1 Large Carrot - Shredded (approx 3/4-1C)
1/2C Cucumber - Diced
1-2TB Onion - Minced (optional)
1/2C Bell Pepper - Diced
2-3tsp Old Bay
1.5tsp Celery Seed

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta until Al Dente, drain and set to the side to cool.

In a large saute pan, or sauce pot, place water, vinegar and 2TB Old Bay and bring to a boil, add shrimp in a single layer (you may need to do this in 2 batches if your pan/pot is not large enough) and cook until no longer translucent. Remove the shrimp from the pan and peel once cool. I like to cut the shrimp into pieces that are similar in length to the shells.

In a large bowl mix all remaining ingredients with the pasta and shrimp once they have cooled off. You do not want to put hot pasta and shrimp in with the mayonnaise as it can melt it. It is okay to mix once everything is warm, but there should be no steam coming from the pasta or shrimp. Make sure to taste the salad and add more Old Bay if you think it needs some more salt or pepper, the beauty of Old Bay is it acts as both.

Refrigerate once mixed and serve chilled. Enjoy this wonderful taste of Maryland at your family get together this summer!

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WW: 10 Points Plus / serving

Pulled Pork Enchilada Style

The other day I made a wonderful Pulled Pork Tenderloin in the slow cooker. I used the majority of it with BBQ sauce but wanted to try something different tonight and decided that Enchilada Pork over Polenta was the way to go! Since the pork was already cooked the only cooking time involved is to make the polenta and heat the pork with the sauce. If you aren't a fan of Polenta or want a more waist friendly meal you could also serve this over a bed of greens for a nice salad as well as rice or with a Tortilla.

Pulled Pork Enchilada Nachos: Serves 2

6-8oz Cooked Pulled Pork
1C Tomato Sauce
2-3TB Tomato Paste
1/4tsp Cumin
1/4tsp Chili Powder
1/4tsp Onion Powder
Pinch Cinnamon
1.5oz Monteray Jack Cheese - Shredded
1/2C Corn Meal
2C Water
2tsp Butter

In a sauce pot put water, butter and salt and bring to a boil, once boiling, whisk in cornmeal and turn heat down to a simmer. Cook until all water has absorbed into the corn meal - the polenta should be really thick at this point, so much so that when you stir the polenta it doesn't immediately fall back into place. Pour into 2 bowls and let it firm up on the counter while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Mix the tomato sauce, paste and seasonings together and toss with the pork in a saute pan until heated through. Spoon on top of the polenta and sprinkle with the cheese.

Enjoy!

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WW: 11 Points Plus / serving

Spicy Stewed BBQ Chicken Legs

Often Chicken Legs go on sale at my grocery store so I am always looking for new ways to prepare them. I often make them into Teriyaki Chicken Legs but wanted something different today. I found a recipe on Cooks.com that I have modified to be healthier and a little bit spicier. For the original recipe click here.

I found this sauce to be a nice spicy BBQ that went well with the chicken. Note that while you cook it with the skin on the chicken I recommend taking it off before eating because it will not crisp up because it cooks in the sauce. Also make sure to have a spoon handy to ladle the sauce on top of the chicken! If you don't have legs you could always use thighs as well!

Spicy BBQ Chicken Legs: Serves 4-6

1 Large Onion - Finely Diced
2-3 Garlic Cloves - Minced
1TB Olive Oil
1C Chili Sauce (I used Heinz)
1TB Worcestershire Sauce
1tsp Celery Seed
1/4tsp Salt
1/2tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1/4C Brown Sugar - Packed
Pinch Cayenne Pepper
12 Chicken Legs
Salt & Pepper

In a large saute pan heat oil, onions and garlic over medium heat and cook for 4-5 minutes until translucent. Add the remaining ingredients through the cayenne pepper to the saute pan and bring up to a boil, once boiling reduce to a simmer and continue to cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.

While the sauce is cooking place the chicken in a 13x9 pan and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Once the sauce has finished cooking pour over the chicken and evenly distribute. Place in a 350° oven for 1 hour, flipping the chicken every 20 minutes.

Serve & Enjoy!

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WW: 11 Points Plus / serving @ 4 servings
7 Points Plus / serving @ 6 servings