Vegetarian Stuffed Mushrooms just might not cut it if you’re looking for a main dish to prepare for your roommates, your family or your significant other on a night when it’s your turn to cook. I chose to take advantage of the produce that’s in season this time of year, namely delicious butternut squash, in this stuffed chicken recipe:
Stuffed Chicken with Butternut Squash, Fig and Goat Cheese
Ingredients: 4 chicken breasts (thick enough for stuffing), ½ of a small to medium sized butternut squash, approx. 10 figs, goat cheese (amount is up to you – be careful though! This ingredient can be dangerous if you use too much of it), balsamic vinegar (enough to cover the bottom of your skillet), fresh ground pepper, 1/3 cup sliced or chopped almonds, ¼ cup skim milk
Directions:
1.Preheat Oven to 400. Wrap squash in tin foil, place on baking sheet & bake for about an hour (or until soft).
2.Clean Chicken. Then, cut a slit or 2 in each chicken breast to create a pocket(s) for stuffing.
3.Marinate chicken. (I like to marinate chicken in a very teeny amount of olive oil combined with fresh basil, garlic, ground black pepper, & parsley) Throw it all in a zip block bag and let it sit in the fridge until squash is done. *For best results marinate chicken overnight*
4.Once squash is cooked, take it out of the oven & reduce the oven’s heat to 350. Unwrap squash from foil and let it sit to cool (it’s going to be really really hot when you take it out of the oven so be careful.)
5.While squash is cooling, cut skin and ends off figs, leaving only the center reddish juicy part remaining. Then, place centers of figs into a medium sized mixing bowl.
6.Once cooled, cut top and bottom end off squash and peel the skin off (skin will come off very easily). Use a spoon to spoon squash into the same mixing bowl that contains the figs, looking out for the seeded center (when you see the seeded center, remove it and throw it away). Note: If you would like the ingredients of your stuffing to be evenly proportioned I would recommend not using the whole squash for your stuffing
7.Mash squash and figs together – add milk and 1tsp. of butter (if necessary) to make mixture smooth. Add goat cheese, almonds, & crushed black pepper to mixture & set aside.
8.In skillet, sauté chicken in balsamic vinegar – only cook for about 2 min. on each side – enough to brown the outside (you don’t want to cook the chicken completely right now, because you still have to bake it & you don’t want it to end up being overcooked in the end =)
9.Take a tbsp. & Stuff your chicken!
10.Bake stuffed chicken in oven for about 20 minutes (depending on thickness). Top it off with extra almonds or goat cheese, if desired.
Nutrition: Butternut squash contains 0g of fat, 0g of cholesterol & 0g of sodium, nearly 50% of your daily recommended intake of Vitamin C & 300% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A. With only 16g of carbs. & 3 grams of sugar, this vegetable is a great alternative to other sweet flavors of the fall. Of course the chicken & almonds provide you with lots of protein to help you stay full and little fat (nearly no saturated fat), figs give you the little bit of fruit you need & contain fiber. When making this recipe, limit the goat cheese! While cheese is definitely one of my guilty pleasures, it’s by far not the healthiest of foods. Some of it is good, because we should never deprive our bodies of the foods we crave…but be careful – practice portion control! You will turn this dish into an unhealthy one if you overdose on the cheese (as you would any other dish).
If you want to serve this dish with a side, I’d recommend serving it with a green vegetable…whatever you like most: broccoli, asparagus, Brussel sprouts (as shown in picture), green beans, spinach, etc. … Greens like these are amongst the best foods in the world you could ever put into your body. They will keep your energy & immune system up and your fat, salt, cholesterol & sugars down. Serve & Enjoy =)
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