Spicy Stuffed Chicken

 

I should probably call this EXTRA spicy stuffed chicken because it takes quite the iron tongue to get through this meal, but that's half the fun isn't it?

I am lucky enough that at my job we have a small garden that I can pick some peppers and experiment with foods I probably wouldn't buy from the store (I don't like bell peppers, so I'm always wary of peppers in general).  This time I grabbed a Fresno Chili Pepper, having no idea what it even was, along with a cayenne pepper.  Upon my investigation, I found out that a fresno pepper is similar to a jalapeno, which is my favorite kind of pepper.  Needless to say, I was excited to work these beauties into something.  I'm also a fan of veggies that I can work into a main dish rather than having to remember to add them on the side.  The little kid in me still isn't the biggest fan of having them on my plate.

They've been hanging out in my kitchen for about a week,
so they are starting to look a bit rough

One restaurant I miss from back home is Red Robin.  The A1 Burger is to die for!  There, I once had this dish called something like Ensenada Chicken, which I adored.  I decided to channel that concept into something a bit more involved.  This led me to the fridge to see what I could possibly combine.

*Correction:  As my friend Rosalie pointed out to me, there are Red Robins out here, they are just so far away from me*

There I found cottage cheese, which my roommate abhors and I use as a cruel joke whenever he whines.   It usually involves the line, "Would you like some cheese with that whine?".  I'm clever, I know.  I, however, love the stuff on it's own merit, but I also love that it can be a healthier replacement for ricotta cheese.  And I know that ricotta cheese, well really any kind of cheese, tastes great when stuffed inside a chicken.  How do I know that, you ask?  Well another wonderful restaurant I left behind, named Carrabbas taught me that one.  So the combination of these two delicious chain restaurants spawned:

Spicy Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

1 Chicken Breast
1/4 cup Cottage Cheese
Spinach (about a pinch or two)
1 Jalapeno or Fresno Pepper
1 Cayenne Pepper
Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese (Optional)
1/4 tsp of the following:
  Garlic Salt
  Black Pepper
  Dried Cilantro
  Oregano
  Chili Powder
  Crushed Red Pepper
1/2tsp Cumin
Dash of All Spice (Optional)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cooking spray on a clear baking dish.

Looks like Christmas

In a bowl mix Cottage Cheese, Spinach, Peppers, and All Spice.

On a plate mix together Garlic Salt, Black Pepper, Cilantro, Oregano, Chili Powder, Red Pepper, and Cumin.

Create a pocket in the chicken breast with a knife.  Try not to puncture the sides, but make it as big as you can so every bite will have the filling.  

Coat the chicken in the spices.  Fill chicken breast with cottage cheese filling.  Try to fit as much in as possible because the cottage cheese will lose most of it's liquid while cooking.  You'll be surprised just how much filling will fit (insert that's what she said joke here).


Cover dish with tinfoil and bake for about 25 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.  Don't be afraid to over cook this dish.  I over estimated the time needed for cooking by about a whopping 20 minutes but because of the cottage cheese the dish was still incredibly most, the filling just lost some extra moisture.

With about five minutes left for cooking, sprinkle the top with the Mexican Blend Cheese.  If you forget, like I usually do, just put it on afterwards and let it melt.

I paired mine with a Roasted Red Pepper and Basil Couscous blend to help with the heat.  Yum!