This recipe was one of those improvised dishes, and it ended up becoming a family favorite! I originally thought about adding cheese and sun-dried tomatoes to the filling, but for some reason or another it just didn't happen (both the sun-dried tomatoes, and the cheese were left behind in the fridge completely forgotten). However, the sauce made up for the lack of cheese, and made this chicken a whole new dining sensation. So, if you want a light and flavorful meal, these chicken rolls are just what you’re looking for!
🥣 Cooking Time: 45-50mins
🍲 Servings: 6
Ingredients
3 chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally 1 tablespoon of salt 2 teaspoons of garlic powder 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper ½ cup of diced onion 3 minced garlic cloves 1 teaspoon of ground cumin 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary ¼ cup of lime juice 1 cup of chicken stock 1/3 cup of avocado or olive oil ½ cup of diced scallions 6 cups of baby spinach
1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
Directions
1. First, place half of one chicken breast between two pieces of wax paper or in a plastic Ziploc bag, and flatten with the help of a meat mallet.
2. Starting in the center and working out to the edges, pound lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet until the chicken is even in thickness. Repeat this process until all the chicken is evenly flat.
3. Season the chicken with garlic, salt, and pepper. Make sure each piece is well coated on both sides and reserve.
4. In a medium saucepan, heat the avocado oil on medium-low heat.
5. Once the oil is hot, add the diced onion into the pan and sauté for about 1-2 minutes until it becomes slightly translucent.
6. Add the garlic into the saucepan, stirring together with the onion. Here you will want the garlic to become fragrant without burning or turning brown, this should take about a minute or less.
7. Once garlic is fragrant, add the cumin and rosemary into the saucepan and continue stirring.
8. Next, proceed to add the lime juice and chicken stock and turn off the heat. This will be the sauce we’ll use to bake the chicken.
9. Allow the sauce to cool off completely and reserve.
10.To prepare the spinach, start by sautéing the scallions with a teaspoon avocado oil.
11.Add the spinach and cook until wilted, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
12.Let the spinach cool off too before proceeding to the next steps.
13.In a baking dish, add about 1/3 cup of the cooled off sauce.
14.Onto each pounded chicken breast, evenly add about 2 tablespoons of wilted spinach in the center.
15.Carefully roll the chicken breast until the ends overlap, then place the chicken rolls into the baking dish.
16.Pour the remaining sauce on top of the chicken rolls, and bake at 400°F for 40-45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
17.Once ready, allow the chicken rolls to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with mashed potatoes, veggies, or any side dishes of your choice. ¡Buen provecho!
Notes
As I mentioned earlier, this recipe was meant to include sun-dried tomatoes and cheese into the filling, but the plain spinach filling was more than enough for our family. However, feel free to add cheese to your rolls if you wish! You can always use other ingredients instead of spinach such as bell peppers, artichokes, onions, or any other veggies you prefer. The beauty of this recipe is that you can adjust the filling to your liking!
For the side dishes here I kept it simple, since the sauce is very flavorful. The classic mashed potatoes paired divined with the sauce, making them very flavorful without feeling too rich to the taste. For our veggies we used carrots and green beans, which were pan cooked.
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