Pesto Chicken Rolls with Chopped Tomato and Spinach Salad...

By Aggie's Kitchen (Visit website)

My little boy did the cutest thing the other day.

He and his sister were playing "restaurant" and setting up their little table with play food for dinner. I then overheard Sammy say to Gina..."Wait wait wait...I have to get my camera so I can take pictures of the food!"

As a food blogger, I just thought that was the funniest thing ever!! Kids are the best.

Dinner the other night was the best too. I felt so good after eating this...it was full of lots of lean protein and plenty of good for you vegetables. Healthy food can be so delicious people, it really can.

These chicken rolls are so versatile too. It's more of a technique than a recipe, once you get the steps down, you can get really creative with the stuffing. I think next time I will try a spinach pesto, feta and kalamata olive combination.

Pesto Chicken Rolls
Recipe from Aggie's Kitchen

1.5 lbs of chicken breast
6-8 tsp of prepared pesto (I used Buitoni for a shortcut)
1 cup sun dried tomatoes (I prefer the ones not in oil, but either will work)
shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tsps olive oil for pan

Take each chicken breast and place between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a mallet (tenderizer), gently pound chicken till to about 1/4 inch thick cutlets. Cut each chicken cutlet in half into same size pieces. Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Drop approximately 1 teaspoon of prepared pesto onto the center of each chicken cutlet, spread pesto. Lay a few pieces of sun dried tomatoes over pesto. Sprinkle the shredded parmesan cheese over the sun dried tomatoes. Starting from the smaller side, roll cutlet being careful to keep filling inside. At this time you can seal the opening with a toothpick if you'd like. These can be made ahead up until this point. Place in dish and wrap in plastic wrap, store in the fridge for a few hours until ready to cook.

Heat 1-2 tsp olive oil in an oven proof skillet and gently place each chicken roll in hot pan. Cook each side until golden brown, using tongs to gently turn rolls. Once all sides of chicken are seared to golden brown, place oven proof skillet into pre heated oven of 375 degrees. If you do not have an oven proof skillet, just transfer chicken into a baking dish greased with nonstick spray.

Cook chicken in oven for appoximately 20 -25 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked through. This recipe made 6 chicken rolls, 1-2 for each person.

Serve chicken rolls with salad, veggies or pasta!

(for a printable version of both these recipes click here)

Chopped Tomato and Spinach Salad
Recipe from Aggie's Kitchen

4-5 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
handful of kalamata olives, chopped
2-3 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves
balsamic vinegar
olive oil, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Combine tomatoes, onion, and olives in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, pour 2 -3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Toss to combine. Serve tomato mixture over a bed of fresh spinach, gently toss to spread dressing. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil if you prefer.

This recipe made 2 large dinner salads or 3-4 smaller salads.

(for a printable version of both these recipes click here)

I recently received the Butterfly Award from my friend Barbara over at Barbara Bakes! Her blog is full of yummy food so go over there and check her out! While I'm on the ball today, I think I 'm going to pass this award to a few of my new favorite blogs!

Erica of Itzy's Kitchen - Erica is the sweetest gal, and is always cooking up something delicious and health conscience in her kitchen. And her dog Frank is the CUTEST!

Paula of It's All Gouda - Paula's blog is just comfort to me...I love reading her posts about her family and everything she cooks makes me hungry!

Cathy at The Tortefeasor - Cathy is a busy mom, but still finds time to cook up great stuff!! She makes me laugh and hers is a blog I always look forward to visiting!

Have a great weekend!!