Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken Breast With Couscous Recipes

MEDITERRANEAN STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• 1. Using a sharp knife, cut a pocket in each chicken breast by cutting horizontally through the thickest portion to, but not through, the opposite side. Set aside.
• 2. In a small bowl, combine feta, artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, green onion, and oregano. Spoon evenly into pockets in chicken breasts. If necessary, secure openings with wooden toothpicks. Sprinkle chicken with black pepper.
• 3. Coat an unheated large nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Preheat skillet over medium heat. Add chicken. Cook for 12 to 14 minutes or until no longer pink (170 degrees F), turning once.

CHICKEN BREASTS STUFFED WITH HERBED COUSCOUS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup water to a boil. Add couscous; season with salt and pepper. Cover, and remove from heat; let steam 5 minutes. Add mint, pine nuts, scallions, lemon zest and juice, and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper, and fluff with a fork.
• Lay chicken flat on a work surface. With a paring knife, cut a 2-inch-long slit in the thick side of each breast. Insert knife, and pivot inside chicken without enlarging opening, carefully forming a deep pocket (make sure not to pierce the opposite side). Stuff each breast with an equal amount of couscous mixture, packing it tightly.
• In a large skillet, heat remaining tablespoon oil over medium. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in skillet, and cook until browned on one side, 6 to 8 minutes. Carefully turn chicken over, and add 1/2 cup water to skillet (a little couscous may fall out). Cover, and cook until chicken is opaque throughout, 6 to 8 minutes more.

COUSCOUS STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST WITH FETA, SUN-DRIED TOMATOES AND KALAMATA OLIVES

Steps:

• For the couscous: In saucepan over medium heat add olive oil, when hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and saute a few minutes more. Add olives and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the box of couscous, turn off heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork, and season with salt and pepper. Spread 2 cups on large plate, add in 1/2 pound feta, and let cool. Keep the remaining hot to serve with chicken. (Put in covered casserole and reheat in oven last 10 minutes with chicken.)
• For the chicken: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Trim chicken with a boning knife, if needed. Start at top of breast and carefully make a lengthwise cut from top to bottom and making a pocket about 2 inches, making sure not to pierce the other side of the breast. When couscous is cool enough to handle, carefully spoon couscous mixture into pocket. Even out the stuffing by gently moving it around with your hands. Wipe off any excess couscous from outside of breasts and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil and butter in saute pan and brown off both sides of chicken. Place chicken on baking sheet and place in oven for 20 minutes.
• While chicken is baking, make the sauce.
• For the sauce: In saute pan that you cooked chicken breasts in, heat and add garlic. Deglaze with white wine and add lemon juice. Reduce by one third. Add in sun-dried tomatoes, let reduce for 2 to 3 minutes, add the olives, turn off heat, add the butter and stir to combine.
• To serve, place couscous from oven on plate, cut chicken breast in half, top with sauce, crumble remaining feta cheese over.

MEDITERRANEAN STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Preheat broiler.
• Cut bell pepper in half lengthwise and remove seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves on foil-lined baking sheet, skin side up. Broil 15 minutes or until blackened. Place in air-tight container for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, finely chop the 2 bell pepper halves.
• Mix together chopped bell pepper, garlic, cheese, olives, basil, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
• Cut a horizontal slit in thickest portions of each chicken breast to form a pocket (but do not cut all the way through). Spoon the pepper/feta/olive mixture into each pocket. Close the opening with a toothpick. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, and sprinkle the top side with dried basil.
• Place chicken on broiler rack, and broil 6-8 minutes each side, or until done (it may take additional time, depending on thickness of the chicken breasts). Remove from oven, loosely wrap with foil and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

MEDITERRANEAN STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST WITH COUSCOUS

Steps:

• 1. Combine first five seasoning ingredients in a small bowl. Place each breast pieces in a plastic bag and pound until it's a uniform 1/4" thick. Brush infused oil on both sides of the chicken breasts and pat on the dry ingredients. Cover and set in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes
• 2. Sauté the spinach in 1 tbsp of the infused oil and 1/2 cup of chicken stock until just wilted. Drain and squeeze most of the moisture out. Sauté the garlic and shallots with 1 tbsp of infused olive oil in a small sauté pan until soft. In a medium bowl combine the remaining ingredients and add the spinach.
• 3. Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg. F
• 4. Remove from the chicken from the refrigerator and place on a flat surface. Depending upon the size of the breast put 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the stuffing on one side of each of the four pieces of chicken, lengthwise leaving a small amount to sprinkle on the chicken. Roll the chicken in the long direction and hold together with long tooth picks. Place in a 9" x 13" baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads about 160 deg. F. Check after about 15 minutes to make sure it's not getting dry. Remove toothpicks, slice in three to four pieces on the bias and serve over the couscous (recipe below).
• 5. Heat 1 tbsp infused oil in a 2 qt. pot and sauté the onions over medium heat until slightly soft. Add the pine nuts and continue to cook a couple more minutes until the pine nuts are slightly browned. Turn the heat to high and pour in the chicken stock and bring to a full boil. Add the couscous and the remaining ingredients, stir, cover and remove from the heat. Let sit for five minutes, fluff with a fork
• 6. Fill a 1 cup sized ramekin with the couscous for each of the servings and turn over onto the four plates. Arrange the chicken on top. Before serving, whisk together, yogurt, honey, lemon juice and zest and drizzle about 1 to 2 tbsp over the chicken and couscous. Sprinkle with some fresh chopped parsley and serve.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN AND COUSCOUS

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken and garlic and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently or until the chicken is no longer pink. Add the spinach during the last 1-2 minutes of cooking chicken.
• Stir in water, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and spice pack from couscous. Bring to a boil.
• Stir in couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Stir with a fork to fluff couscous. Stir in feta cheese and pine nuts if using. Serve.

COUSCOUS STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST WITH FETA & SUN-DRIED TOMATO

Steps:

• For the couscous:.
• Directions.
• In saucepan over medium heat add olive oil, when hot, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and saute a few minutes more. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the box of couscous, turn off heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork, and season with salt and pepper. Spread 2 cups on large plate, add in 1/2 pound feta, and let cool. Keep the remaining hot to serve with chicken. (Put in covered casserole and reheat in oven last 10 minutes with chicken.).
• For the chicken:.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Trim chicken with a boning knife, if needed. Start at top of breast and carefully make a lengthwise cut from top to bottom and making a pocket about 2 inches, making sure not to pierce the other side of the breast. When couscous is cool enough to handle, carefully spoon couscous mixture into pocket. Even out the stuffing by gently moving it around with your hands. Wipe off any excess couscous from outside of breasts and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat olive oil and butter in saute pan and brown off both sides of chicken. Place chicken on baking sheet and place in oven for 20 minutes.
• While chicken is baking, make the sauce.
• For the sauce:.
• In saute pan that you cooked chicken breasts in, heat and add garlic. Deglaze with white wine and add lemon juice. Reduce by one third. Add in sun-dried tomatoes, let reduce for 2 to 3 minutes, turn off heat, add the butter and stir to combine.
• To serve, place couscous from oven on plate, cut chicken breast in half, top with sauce, crumble remaining feta cheese over.