Avocado Chicken

Last week I bought avocados because they were on sale. I had this idea I was going to do some eggs baked in avocado, but then I never got around to it. You know how they have that magical 5-minute window between hard as a rock and rotting? I actually hit it dead on while I was cooking! Made this one up mostly ahead of time but partially as I went along, and it came out pretty darn good. I love when that happens!

The only thing missing from this picture is the lime juice. I didn't think I was going to use any, but then I changed my mind after tasting the avocado mixture. Also, you can see my two chicken breast halves were nothing like the same size as each other, so I cut the huge one in half and got three servings out of this recipe. It should really only be two, but I just used less avocado mixture as topping and it worked out just fine.

Chicken, bacon, avocado, cream cheese, basil, salsa, and some Olde Thompson garlic-pepper in a grinder. And lime juice. And some fresh-ground black pepper.

I mashed the avocado with some softened cream cheese (I use neufchatel, the 1/3-less-fat kind), some salsa, a bit of lime juice, some dried basil, and several twists of the garlic-pepper grinder. Set that aside for a bit while you prep the chicken.

Cut a pocket into each piece of chicken, very carefully. My ceramic knives are excellent for this as they easily slice into raw chicken without tearing it. My skill as a pocket-cutter, however, leaves something to be desired. Only one of them really ended up with a pocket; the other two had something more closely resembling flaps. Whatever... I divided the avocado mixture in roughly half, and divided one half between the chicken pieces.

From there, I sprinkled each one with some more garlic-pepper, then wrapped each one in two slices of bacon, put them in a sprayed 9x9-inch pan and sprinkled them liberally with paprika.

Oh yeah... I left paprika out of the picture as well.

Then into the oven they went, at 375F for 35 minutes. The chicken was done, but the bacon wasn't as crisp as I wanted, so I then put them under the broiler for about 10 minutes (without adjusting the shelf).

What came out was beautifully cooked, crispy bacon-wrapped chicken. And an ungodly amount of bacon grease in the pan. I transferred each chicken roll immediately to a plate with a bunch of paper towel on it to soak up some of the grease, because I was pretty sure nobody needed to eat that much.

Once each piece was plated, I divided the remaining half of the avocado mixture between each one and served.

I'm going to mention again here before I type the recipe that this was supposed to only make two servings, but I got three because one of the breast halves was huge. I'm writing it out as a two-serving recipe, though, because that's how it should be. But I will tell you the remaining one was fabulous when I had it for lunch a couple of days later.

Avocado Chicken

Serves 2

1 large avocado

3 ounces neufchatel cheese (low-fat cream cheese)

1 tablespoon salsa

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning, divided

1 teaspoon lime juice

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

4 slices bacon

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Pit and peel avocado; mix well with neufchatel cheese, salsa, basil, 1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning, and lime juice. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 375F; spray a shallow baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut pockets into each piece of chicken, taking care not to slice all the way through.

Divide avocado mixture in half and set one half aside (cover with plastic wrap). Divide remaining half between chicken pieces, spooning mixture to completely fill pockets.

Sprinkle chicken with remaining garlic-pepper seasoning and black pepper. Wrap each piece with two slices of bacon and place in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle tops of each with paprika.

Bake at 375F for 35 minutes, then switch to broiler without adjusting shelf height and broil 10 minutes. *If using a gas oven, switch to broiler and broil 5-10 minutes, watching carefully to avoid burning the bacon or setting grease in pan on fire.

Remove from oven and transfer chicken to a plate lined with paper towels to soak up excess grease. Once grease has mostly been absorbed (1-2 minutes), transfer chicken to plates. Spread remaining avocado mixture on top of chicken and serve.

I served mine with just cottage cheese on the side, but it really could have used a salad both for colour and texture variety.

Serving Size: 433g

Calories: 909

Calories from Fat: 535

Total Fat: 59.5g

Saturated Fat: 18.2g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 242mg

Sodium: 1770mg

Total Carbohydrates: 11.7g

Dietary Fiber: 7.1g

Sugars: 2.1g

Protein: 82.7g