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!

Salmon Pesto and Hot Green Bean Salad

Because I'm not sure the photograph gives justice to this creative, delectable dish, I'll share a little bit about how I felt as I ate each melt-in-your-mouth bite.

"Wow, I'm so proud of myself for choosing fish and vegetables for lunch today. That's right diet - I win this battle! But the salmon tastes so....light and, delicate like butter. Wait, is that...yes, yes it is... a sun dried tomato pesto, freshly made from scratch? ohhh And, oh, oh, oh, do I taste coconut in my green bean bite? With a hint of spice???....I do, I really, really do..."

If that personal moment isn't convincing, I don't know what is.

Recipe:

Pan-Seared Salmon Pesto:

2 fillets of salmon

1/2 cup of cilantro

1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes

1/3 cup of almond slices

3 tablespoons of olive oil

salt to taste

Prepare the pesto by putting all the ingredients, except for the salmon of course, in some sort of food processor. Don't worry if you feel like your cooking is limited because you might not have what some would consider the basics in food preparation supplies - I made my pesto in a blender!

Cover one side of each of your salmon fillets with your pesto. Place 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in your pan and wait until it is thoroughly heated. Add your salmon and cook each side for 5-7 minutes. This time is based on an average thickness - not too thin, not too thick. You may have to adjust this time depending on the thickness of your filet. Serves 2.

Hot Green Bean Salad

12 ounces of green beans

15 ounces of whole mushrooms, cut in half (They don't have to be fresh! The kind I buy are canned - Roland whole button mushrooms)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup of shallots, diced

3 tablespoons of olive oil

3 tablespoons of paprika

1-2 tablespoons of oregano

1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper

1/3 cup of cream of coconut (It comes in a can by Goya, 15 ounces)

1/2 lime

Blanch the green beans for about 10 minutes. While they are boiling, add oil and the shallots into a pan. After a couple of minutes, add the garlic. After a minute, add the mushrooms. Once the green beans' time is up, add them to the pan with the three spices. Take the 1/2 lime and squeeze the juice into your almost complete hot salad. Let the mixture cook together on low heat, covered, for about 15 minutes. Finally, add the cream of coconut. Taste the hot green bean salad, and add salt to taste! Serves 2, with a little bit of leftover for snacking!

a buen tiempo!

P.S. Don't worry, the first improvement to my brand spankin' new blog will be its FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY! Everyone has to start somewhere, right?