feta and olive stuffed chicken.

for some reason this post has taken me almost a week, lethargic much?

 

I'm always looking for new weekday dinners that i can make quickly enough when i get home that i don't snack my way past hunger (note: i am not on weight watchers!) martha's feta stuffed chicken with a few modest adjustments and additions made  for a complete meal that was delicious, nutritious and even beat out my hunger pangs at the finish line.

first thing i edited from martha's recipe was to marinate the chicken. we had two chicken breasts that i marinated in 1/4 cup chicken stock, 1/4 cup white wine, 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/2 chopped shallot the and 1/3 juice of a lemon.

the boobies took a swim in the marinate for about an hour.

enjoy a glass of wine and make your filling.

i added feta's favorite date to my filling..why a very sexy companion of olives of course!

add 2 ounces of feta plus 10 olives and 1 teaspoon of dried parsley to your minichop.

by the way, i have made this feta/olive/parsley mix three times in as many days as a dip, spread and addition to sandwiches (read: eaten with a spoon). its pretty much unbelievable in its simplicity and taste.

ok so cut a pocket into your chicken breasts, the best way is to hold the breast in your hand and cut into about 2/3 down, leaving the bottom sealed but opening up the top to fill each with half the filling.

warm a medium skillet to mediumish heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil ( i used 1.5 teaspoons of garlic oil and 1.5 teaspoons of shallot oil because i'm so creative).  cook chicken about 6 minutes per side, then cover pan and let cook another 5 minutes. remove chicken from pan.

now gravy. in case you didn't know (who are you? where are you? were you raised by wolves?), 

gravy makes absolutely everything better.

 

after you remove the chicken add 1/2 cup of chicken stock to the pan and whisk to get all those lovely little brown bits off the bottom of your pan. very traditional gravy talk here. after the stock has reduced a bit, add in 1 tablespoon of budda and the juice of half a lemon. let it all cook together over medium heat for about 5 more minutes and add chicken back to pan, spooning gravy over chicken till drenched in all its glory.

i also made some frozen green beans into something special whilst making the gravy. 

maybe 1.5 cups of frozen green beans with a teaspoon or so of garlic oil, and dashes of salt, pepper and red pepper flake.

leave covered on medium heat, stirring every few minutes.

after they soften, add whatever lemon juice you have left from that lone lemon and a little chicken stock.

continue to heat as the gravy and chicken live happily ever after.

gobble up and take pictures midbites, licking the gravy clean with abandon. 

night ends with phil exclaims "jess this is my favorite thing you've made so far!"

excellent, a seal of approval from a real food lover.