Tuesday- Pimiento Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Adapted from Cooking Light

Chef’s Notes: When I was a kid I loathed pimiento cheese. I have no idea why, but I think like most kids I thought that it looked terrifying. When I became an adult and realized that it’s made from cheddar, we became close friends!

Plan of Attack:

1. Make pimiento cheese mixture

2. Stuff chicken breast

3. Brown outside of chicken

4. Bake for 12-14 minutes

Ingredients for 2:

1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 slice bacon, cooked and roughly chopped

½ C shredded cheddar cheese

2 small green onions, minced

1 Tbsp diced pimientos

1 Tbsp mayo

1 tsp lemon juice

Dash of hot sauce (like Sriachi or Tabasco)

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray; set aside
2. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat
3. Cook bacon until crispy. Remove from heat , roughly chop and set aside
4. In a small bowl combine cheddar, green onions, pimientos, mayo, lemon juice, and hot sauce.
5. Cut the chicken breast from the side as if to butterfly it, creating a pocket. Stuff the middle of the breast with the pimiento mixture. Fold the chicken over the mixture to cover completely and secure with toothpicks
6. Reheat the same skillet used for the bacon to medium-high heat
7. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, then brown on all sides in the skillet. About 3-4 minutes on each side
8. Move chicken to baking dish and bake for 12-14 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked
9. Let stand 5 minutes
10. Enjoy!

Side Options:

Roasted Butternut Squash