balsamic glazed tomato and feta chicken roulade

Roulade.

It’s a very fancy name for a deceptively easy meal. It’s like a chicken roll-up, which makes me think of Fruit Roll-Ups. But it’s healthier and more delicious.

No, really. I made these for the number one junk food lover I know and he was a huge fan. Seriously!

The steps can essentially be boiled down to this:

Slice chicken. Season. Make filling. Roll. Bake. Reduce balsamic. Throw it all together.

But because I’m nicer than that, I’ll give you a little more information.

balsamic glazed tomato and feta chicken roulades

1. Slice three chicken breasts in half, length-wise. Rub with olive oil. Season each side with dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

2. Open a can (12 oz) of diced tomatoes into a pan. Cook over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half. Midway through, add in half of a Vidalia onion, sliced. Cook until the onion is translucent.

3. Let cool slightly. Mix in a handful of crumbled feta cheese.

4. Place a few spoonfuls of the tomato mixture on each chicken breast half. Starting at one end, carefully roll each breast half up, securing with a toothpick through the middle.

5. Place all chicken rolls on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

6. While baking, gradually reduce about 1/4 a cup of balsamic vinegar.

7. When the chicken is ready – should be slightly golden on top – remove and plate by glazing the top of each piece of chicken with the reduced balsamic.

chicken picatta and balsamic parmesan asparagus

There’s a whole lot of chicken going on in this blog lately.

That’s not surprising. I eat chicken probably more than anything else. I’m not a huge red meat fan (except burgers), and there are so many different chicken recipes, why not try them all?

This one holds special meaning for me because it was a huge staple in my diet growing up. My favorite meal, without a doubt, as a little kid was chicken picatta.

I liked the name. I liked the little green capers that I chased around my plate with my fork- trying to get as many as possible with each bite of chicken. And I loved how the recipe called for my dad to tenderize the meat, breaking out his wooden mallet for the job.

I didn’t tenderize mine- the chicken breast was pretty good, especially when I sliced it in half, length-wise.

The final result was just as good as I remembered, though.

Chicken picatta, adapted from here.

Parmesan balsamic asparagus

Grab as many asparagus spears as you want. Cut about an inch off the ends.

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Place the spears in, saute quickly, rotating halfway through. Keep them in the oil no longer than a minute.

Put the spears into a paper towel and blot off the excess oil.

Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

 

feta and tomato stuffed chicken breasts

Got someone you need to impress but not a whole lot of time?
Maybe you have limited culinary skills but you’re dating someone that likes to eat. Maybe your parents are in town, but you only have an hour free to get ingredients and make dinner.

Maybe you feel like making yourself a nice solo dinner because you deserve it, and who needs someone to eat dinner with anyway?

I have the recipe for you. It looks like it took you forever. It tastes like it took you forever. People will think it’s difficult.

It’s not. It’s even healthy.

First, you saute up some crushed tomatoes and feta cheese. Cook it down long enough so that the tomatoes aren’t soupy. Being patient during this part of the process is the hardest part of the whole entire dish. I swear.

Slice a pocket in two chicken breasts.

Fill with the tomato-feta mixture you just cooked.

Season. Bake. Serve. Delicious- especially with the lemon Parmesan roasted broccoli I made the other day.

Feta and Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking dish

2. Simmer 1 cup of diced or crushed tomatoes over low heat for 10-15 minutes, until the liquid reduces.

3. Add a half cup of feta cheese. Stir to combine.

4. Cut a pocket in each chicken breast. Spoon in the filling. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

5. Place in the baking dish. Rub the top of each chicken breast with a pinch of garlic powder, sprinkle with dried basil and dried oregano.

6. Bake 40-45 minutes. Enjoy!