Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Double post day! I was a little behind in posting this weekend, so today you get two. Lucky you!

I think I'm still in denial about my tomato allergy. I love tomatoes. Love them. Tomato sauce, salsa, fresh ripe tomatoes from the garden - just about anything tomato-ey is amazing. We're going to go with "I'm in denial" instead of "I'm as dense as a brick."

I found this recipe on a paleo website and I've been hanging on to it for a few weeks waiting to try it. My biggest challenge was that I had to do it on a weekend when I was home to baby-sit the crock pot. I work 10 plus hour days, so anything I put in the crock pot on a work day is going to wither and die before I get home to it. Finally I had the perfect opportunity to give this one a test drive. I had a half an hour before I was leaving to go to a birthday party, and I wanted dinner quick when we got home so I could sit down and enjoy the Denver Broncos play on Sunday Night Football. The game was a joke, so I'm just glad the chicken turned out.

So I'm kind of in a hurry, working on a new recipe I've never tried before, trying to get it all together in time to go. I get my onion carmelized, chicken breasts split, and I'm starting to stuff them. My oldest son is watching in amazement: "That is an ingenious idea!" he exclaims. Then, as I'm adding the sundried tomatoes to the first breast, he says, "Mom, is that a good idea?" I'm perplexed. "What do you mean? I think it sounds good." He looks at me with that teenage 'duh' face and says, "The tomatoes. I thought you can't eat those." See what I mean about being in denial? I was sooo excited about this recipe, and I don't even get to eat the sundried tomatoes in mine. Sad face! At least he caught me before I stuffed them all.

I think I'm going to try this again sometime but put it in the oven. The chicken still got a little over done, so it was a tad on the dry side, but it sure was flavorful. I would make it again as is, for sure, but I'm going to keep working on it.

Ingredients:
4 large chicken breasts
4 tbsp marinated sundried tomatoes
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
Drizzle olive oil
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 cup hot chicken broth

Trim chicken breasts of any visible fat. Using a very sharp knife, cut a "pocket" in the breast lengthwise. Some recipes say not to make the pocket too big. I say, "pshaw!" The pocket is going to hold all the little bits of goodness, so I make it as big as I can.

Drizzle a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until they are caramelized. Remove from heat.

Arrange chicken breasts in crock pot (or baking dish if you want to try cooking them in the oven). Stuff the centers with sundried tomatoes, roasted red pepper and onion, distributing evenly between the four pieces. Pour broth over chicken breasts, then sprinkle with sage, oregano and basil. Cook on low 4 to 6 hours. If baking, I would go 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until no longer pink.

Serve with a steamed vegetable. Okay, I'll be honest, we had microwaved baked potatoes. But I had to get it on the table quick - the Broncos were playing!