Chicken Rollatini and Grilled Tomato Salad

This is a cheater chicken rollatini I have been testing out for a while now. I think I finally have a workable recipe, so here you go. Hubby can't stop raving about our near gourmet lunch we are enjoying today.

I love the idea of chicken rollatini, but I hate trying to pound chicken breast to an even thickness. I never get it right--then it ends up all funky shaped and hard to roll. Don't even go there with the abundance of toothpicks I have had to use to hold them together. Then there is the extra oven time and testing to make sure the chicken is cooked through. Now it is easy peasy!

The secret to this recipe is using ground chicken, then cooking it just a bit before rolling. The hardest part in knowing when to remove the chicken patty from the pan and stuffing it. I'll do my best to give you a good tutorial here.

Chicken Rollatini

2 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless and trimmed of fat
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon McCormick's garlic and pepper seasoning blend (or any Italian blend without salt)
2 cups fresh baby spinach

Trim chicken and grind it in a blender or food processor. Add the spices and blend again until incorporated into the meat.

Heat a griddle or skillet until hot. Place half the chicken mixture onto the hot skillet. Working very quickly, use the back of a spoon to spread the chicken into an oblong patty. Make the patty about the size of your hand. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When that is spread, turn the first piece over to quickly grill on the other side. The point is to not cook the chicken through, but to sear it on both sides.It is important not to over cook the chicken in this process, as you want to be able to roll it.

While the patties are just seared, but still pink in the center, remove them to a plate. Place about a cup of spinach on each patty and roll them up. Secure with a food pick. Bake these in a toaster oven until the chicken is cooked through. Mine took about 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remove from the oven and serve with a spinach and tomato salad. Drizzle a bit of salad dressing over the rollatini if desired. Serves 2

These would be good with a slice of cheese stuffed inside as well, or a sprinkle of parmesan. Since I have been a bad blogger as of late, I am going to go ahead and give you the salad recipe today as well, in hopes you will forgive me for being absent. This is a very low calorie salad and yet it is bursting with flavor. It is beautiful too.

Grilled Tomato Spinach Salad

Grape tomatoes
fresh spinach (use am many veggies as you want for two)

dressing:
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil (optional)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garlic and pepper seasoning blend (or your choice of Italian blends)
1 packet Truvia
1 ice cube (strange, but read on)

In a bowl, mix the vinegar, and seasonings. Grill the tomatoes whole on a hot griddle or grill. When charred spots appear and they are beginning to split open, remove them. Add them to the vinegar mix and let them rest about five minutes. Break open one tomato, and mix it into the dressing with a fork. Add the ice cube to melt, dilute the vinegar and chill the tomatoes a bit. Mix the dressing and tomatoes into the spinach and serve immediately. Pour any leftover dressing over the chicken or meat entree.

This salad is so good. We like sweetened vinaigrettes, but you can easily leave that out. It would also be good with Balsamic vinegar.

Who could know we could love an Italian dish without cheese? This is really good, and pretty enough to serve company.

Since it is Sunday, I am now back to the kitchen for prep day to make some more ground chicken, but this time it will be patties. Not so pretty, but tasty and great for easy lunches and dinners when it is too hot to cook. Having these on hand is easier than going to the drive through.