Tangy Spinach Chicken

It seems that Tuesday's have become my designated "laundry night"... which means that it's also become "new recipe night"!

I didn't want to go to the store yesterday, so thought I would just make do with whatever I had in the apartment. I had 1/2 bell pepper and some onion left from the Blueberry Salmon, so I knew I wanted to use those.

I also had a frozen chicken breast, and some frozen spinach (which are both things that I try to just keep on-hand for nights like this -- freeze them and they keep for a very long time).

So, here's what I came up with!


Ingredients

1 6-8 ounce chicken cutlet OR chicken breast pounded to ¼ inch thickness
Salt & Pepper
Red Pepper flakes - optional, but highly recommended ;)
2 tsp Parmigiana cheese, plus ½ tsp extra
½ cup frozen spinach
¼ onion, finely chopped
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp brown mustard
½ red bell pepper, julienne

Preheat oven to 400°F

Lay the chicken out so that it is longest from top to bottom. Season the chicken, top-side only, with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if you like a little extra heat). Evenly sprinkle 2 tsp cheese.

In a small bowl, quickly thaw the spinach for 1 minute on half power in the microwave. Add the onion, the vinegar, and mustard; mix well. Spread the Spinach mixture on top of the chicken cutlet. Add the red pepper on top so that they run horizontally. Beginning at the end closest to you, loosely roll the chicken up.

Lightly oil a small baking dish and place chicken in it, seam-side down. Drizzle with a tiny amount of olive oil, then top with the extra cheese and a few more pepper flakes.

Place in center of oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Let stand a few minutes before serving, and enjoy!

I know there are lots of people out there who don't think that they love spinach. To you all I say TRY THIS RECIPE. The spinach takes on a great tang from the mustard and the vinegar. The onion and the pepper cook and develop an awesome sweetness to balance. And the cheese? Who doesn't like parmigiana cheese?!

On a healthy note -- don't worry about the cheese. Even with it, the dish still comes in at just short of 300 calories!