Stuffed Tuscan Chicken - Pinterest Pick #23

New ways to eat chicken are always on my mind when I am browsing the internet for recipe ideas. I came across this recipe and when I saw that it had both cheese and sundried tomatoes, I was in. This is a great low carb, gluten free option that is pretty filling. We had ours with salad and that was enough for a dinner.  You can find the original pin HERE and the recipe HERE. The one shortcut I took was instead of making the garlic herb cheese myself was that I used Alouette garlic herb cheese that you can find in your deli's cheese section. 

Stuffed Tuscan Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs Cajun seasoning (I use Slap Yo Mama - I find it at Walmart)
• 1 tbs Italian seasoning
• 1 tbs paprika
• 1 tbs onion powder
• 1 container Alouette garlic herb cheese spread
• 1 small container of sun dried tomatoes (chop all the tomatoes and reserve the oil)
• 1 10 oz pkg of frozen spinach, thawed & drained
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions:
Butterfly all of the chicken breasts, being careful not to slice them all the way through. Rub the chicken with the reserved oil from the sun-dried tomatoes. Season the chicken with the Cajun spice, Italian spice, paprika, and onion powder. In a separate bowl, mix together the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic herb cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan.  Add a heaping tablespoon of the mixture to each chicken breast and press both sides together to close (use toothpicks to seal so the mixture doesn't come out. Bake at 350 for 30-40 mins (the original recipe calls for searing both sides of the chicken in a pan for baking but I did not find this step necessary, especially on a weeknight). Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Sundried Tomato and Shrimp Pasta - Home Cooked Recipe #73

I have been eating a lot of shrimp lately so I am always on the look out for new recipes to try.  I was perusing a couple and came up with this dish that contains some of my Mediterranean favorites, sundried tomatoes and feta cheese!  Easy enough to make on a weeknight, it's great to try this spin on a pasta and shrimp dish.

Sundried Tomato and Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients:

• 12 oz thin spaghetti (or use whatever pasta you like)
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (mine also were tail off)
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced (this can be omitted or you can use another kind of onion)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 tbs flour
• 1 to 2 cups chicken broth (or seafood, or veggie)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped (I used the kind in oil)
• 1/2 cup feta crumbles

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Meanwhile, toss shrimp with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through.  Remove shrimp and add shallots and garlic.  Let cook 1 minute, then add butter.  Saute 1 more minute then add tomato paste and saute a few more minutes.  Add flour and stir well.  Cook for 2 minutes then add broth.  Add lemon juice and sundried tomatoes and mix well.  Reduce heat to low and stir in cream until completely combined. Remove from heat and mix well with pasta.  Plate and top with crumbled feta.

Enjoy!