Pimento AKA Pimiento Cheese Chicken Recipe + How To Stuff A Chicken Breast

My biggest New Years Resolution is to start trying new recipes. I’ve been stuck in a rut of making the same dinners over and over again. I’m happy to report that I’ve tried several new recipes lately and I will be posting at least one new recipe a week(but I’ll probably be posting way more than that).

I had never stuffed a chicken breast before so I had no clue how to do it. After reading this month’s Cooking Light Magazine, I thought it looked easy and had to try a recipe that they had in there. I did a few things differently and I’ll let you know what I did below.

Hands-on time: 15 min.; Total time: 34 min.
Total: 34 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 slice applewood-smoked bacon (I used a few tablespoons of Hormel Real Crumbled Bacon)
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons minced green onions(I had never done this – Simply cut off the root and chop really small)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons diced pimientos
• 1 tablespoon canola mayonnaise(I didn’t have this so I used regular)
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil(I didn’t have this either, so I used Olive Oil)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cook bacon in a large ovenproof skillet until crisp. Remove bacon, reserving drippings in pan; crumble bacon. I didn’t do any of that first part-I used Real Crumbled Bacon that required no cooking Combine bacon, next 6 ingredients, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut a 1-inch-wide slit into the thick end of each breast half; carefully cut down to the center of chicken to form a deep pocket. Divide cheese mixture evenly among pockets. Secure with wooden picks. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.
3. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Add oil to drippings.I just used the oil because I didn’t have any drippings Add chicken to pan; saute 4 minutes. Turn chicken over. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes; let stand for 5 minutes.

How To Stuff Chicken Breast:
Cut a 1 inch-wide slit into the thick end of the breast. Slide your knife to the center and angle it from side to side to make a deep pocket. Be sure not to cut through the breast in the center.

Here is my cheese mixture.

I used my finger and stuffed the cheese mixture to the center pocket that I made in the chicken breast. It said to use wooden picks to close the end, so I assumed that meant tooth picks. They worked perfectly fine for me. I pushed these straight through, but I crisscrossed them on the other chicken breasts. Both ways worked fine.

Rub them down with salt/pepper(I also had some cheese on my hands so that got rubbed on there too). Cook on one side for 5 minutes and then flip and put into the 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Here is what my finished product looked like. I served with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans(b/c my kids eat the mess out of some green beans). It was SOOOOOOO good. I just made this two nights ago and already want to make it again. It was easy to make and we all thought it was really yummy! Best of all, it’s not bad for you either. Check out the nutritional info below(was included in the magazine).

Nutritional Information(using their recipe exactly)
Calories: 299
Fat: 16g (sat 5.8g,mono 6.1g,poly 2.3g)
Protein: 36.8g
Carbohydrate: 1.3g
Fiber: 0.2g
Cholesterol: 100mg
Iron: 1.2mg
Sodium: 606mg
Calcium: 171mg