Quick chicken cordon bleu for two

So I said I'd put the recipe for this meal I made last night up on here.


Quick chicken cordon bleu for two

It was super good. I've been craving a lot of hot and comfort-food type meals lately. I also was craving some butternut squash. My mom's made it, but I'd never tried it before. So that was a bit trial and error... mostly error. I burned the shit out of myself in the process like four times, but ah, what can you do.

So this is what is is meant to look like

I got the idea from a website I always get my food recipes off of, because on there they really try to make things as healthy as possible, but still have hot yummy meal ideas. 

Here's my finished product. Looks pretty good, but tasted even better! It was easy too. Believe me, if I can do it, you can. I never even cooked really before I moved here, but when you're forced to cook for yourself or eat 100% shit food, then you learn to cook. Trust me. 

So it took about 40 minutes total I'd say. Less if you aren't a slow ADD chef like me. I get distracted by everything. I also have Lawrence over my shoulder asking me "why" I'm doing every single thing I'm doing as I go. I love him, but I want to punch him in the face when he is a backseat chef. But he knows this. :) 

Okay so here's what you'll need: 

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (10-12 ounces), trimmed and pounded out with a tenderizer. (I used three breasts. Lawrence eats two.) 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (make sure you only use this to TASTE. If you use prosciutto, then that is super-salty. I did, so I cut down on the salt.)
• 3 tablespoons shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese (we used mozerella because we are ghetto-fabulous.)
• 1 tablespoon reduced-fat cream cheese (or whole-fat cream cheese if you want to get some junk in that trunk)
• 2 tablespoons coarse dry whole-wheat breadcrumbs (BUY PANKO breadcrumbs.  You will not regret it. If not pop the bread in the toaster and get it REALLY crunchy and mash it up by hand. That's what I did. Also because we are ghetto.)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley or thyme (I used regular old thype... this is also because I am poor :) )
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons chopped ham (about 1/2 ounce) (I used prosciutto or parma ham because we are lucky and its pretty cheap here because we're closer to Italy. It's sooo delicious though and worth a couple extra bucks.) 

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Sprinkle chicken with 1/8 teaspoon pepper and salt. Combine cheese and cream cheese in a bowl. Combine the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper with breadcrumbs, parsley (or thyme) and 1 teaspoon oil in another bowl.
3. Heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a medium, ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Move the chicken to the center so the pieces are touching. Spread with the cheese mixture, sprinkle with ham, then top with the breadcrumb mixture.
4. Bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F, 5 to 7 minutes.

I served it with some steamed broccoli (do this with caution. Broccoli seriously does make your entire house smell like someone ripped a huge fart). 

And butternut squash. I cut the squash in half and baked it on the same heat for like 40 minutes. GIVE THE SQUASH plenty of time. It pissed me off. SPread butter over both halves and sprinkle some nutmeg cinnamon and salt and pepper over them before popping them in the oven.

TIPS & NOTES

• Tip: It can be difficult to find small chicken breasts. Remove the strip of meat from the underside of a 5- to 6-ounce breast—the “tender,” about 1 ounce of meat—to yield a perfect individual portion.
•  Freeze the tenders and use them in a stir-fry.
• Note: “Panko breadcrumbs" are bomb. Find them in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets. To make your own breadcrumbs, trim crusts from firm sandwich bread. Tear the bread into pieces and process in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 250°F until dry, about 15 minutes. One slice of bread makes about 1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs.

NUTRITION

 280 calories (wow!!!!)




Good luck. I hope y'all like it.