Garlic, Chives, and Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with a Green Bean and Chickpea Salad

The fiance and I moved into our new apartment this weekend! It's wonderful, quiet, and ours. Another exciting update has to be mentioned - we now have an oven! Our first night in the new apartment awarded a special oven-made meal, and this is what I made: Chicken breasts stuffed with a filling of cream cheese, garlic, and chives. I made a Green Bean and Chickpea Salad the day before and chilled it overnight. It was truly a special occasion.

P.S. Do you like our new fancy black plates?

Recipes

Garlic, Chives, and Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

4-8 oz. light cream cheese (I used 4 oz., but many recipes call for 8 oz.)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

a small handful of green onions, sliced

4 chicken breast halves

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oregano

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

Before you begin, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the filling by combining the garlic, chives, and cream cheese in a bowl. Divide the filling into 4 equal balls. Then you can stuff the chicken 1 of 2 different ways. First, place one ball of filling under the skin of each chicken breast and secure the loose side with toothpicks. Or, you can slice the chicken breasts in the center, leaving about 1-2 inches uncut on each side. Do not cut all the way through the to the other side of the chicken. Place the ball of filling in your slit, and secure with toothpicks. Complete this step for each of the 4 chicken breast halves.

Place each chicken breast on a baking sheet. Add the salt, pepper, oregano, and butter on top - spread out evenly among each of the 4 chicken breasts. Bake the chicken breasts for about 30 minutes, or until the juices run clear and the center is no longer pink. Serves 4.

Green Bean and Chickpea Salad

1 14 oz. can of green beans, drained and rinsed

1 14 oz. can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 tablespoon salt

2 cloves of garlic, mashed

1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped

1/2 ripe tomato, chopped

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1-2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

First, boil the green beans and garbanzo beans with the garlic and tablespoon of salt for about 15 minutes. Drain the beans and remove the garlic. Next, in a large bowl add the onion, balsamic vinegar, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir until it is mixed thoroughly and all the beans are equally covered with the dressing. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving. Serves 4-6.

a buen tiempo!