kateland: Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes…

Since getting back from Las Vegas I have been trying to get my life back together. However, the overwhelming lack of sleep in Vegas, the 3-hour time difference, and a few other reasons I won't share have led me to be a bit "grumpy" if you will. Unfortunately for Frank he has had to bear the grunt of this. So last night as an apology I made him dinner, took a shower and dried my hair, and wore normal clothes (instead of the awesome workout clothes I wear daily). I have really enjoyed some recipes from Cooking Light’s website, specifically the reader favorites where I found this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 cup boiling water
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed without oil
2 tsp olive oil, divided
1/2 cup chopped shallots, divided
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, divided
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (I’m lazy and used dried basil)
3/4 tsp salt, divided
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp water

1) Combine boiling water and tomatoes in a bowl; cover and let stand 30 minutes or until soft. Drain and finely chop. Notes: I left mine in the pan and put the top on. These are hard to chop so just do your best. Also you could probably use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil just pat them dry.

2) Heat 1 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. (I didn’t use non-stick bc I have all-clad pans I’m obsessed with.) Add 1/3 cup shallots, sugar and garlic; cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Spoon into a bowl; stir in 1 1/2 tsp vinegar. Combine chopped tomatoes, shallot mixture, cheese, basil and 1/4 tsp salt, stirring well.
* Forgot to take some of the pictures! Oops!*

These are pictures of the shallots. They didn’t have regular shallots all they had were the pre-peeled but just wanted to show that about 1 equals 1/2 cup.

Here’s the mixture of everything. It was very tasty by itself.
3) Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff about 2 tablespoons cheese mixture into each pocket. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper.

4) Heat 1 tsp oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. (I covered them and turned the heat down to medium-low, kept the chicken moist)

Remove chicken from pan; cover and keep warm. Add broth, remaining shallots, 2 tbsp vinegar, and thyme; bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and water, stirring with a whisk. Add cornstarch mixture to pan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until sauce is slightly thick, stirring constantly. Serve sauce over chicken.

Be patient, it gets thicker.
MEANWHILE…. I also made asparagus and orzo.
For the asparagus, I just rinsed them and trim the tough ends. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on them and roll them so they are covered. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and black pepper and then top with parmesan cheese. Then bake at 400* F for about 15 minutes. YUM.