Avocado-Stuffed Chicken

I confess: If given the opportunity, I would eat avocado in some form every single meal, every single day, until there were no more avocados left. I love to snack on them, make dips out of them, use them as sandwich toppings, eat them in salads... Avocado is even more of a weakness for me than bacon, and if you know me you know that's saying a lot.

So I had this avocado on my counter that last night I noticed was a lot softer than I'd prefer, since apparently I missed the 12-minute window in which it was perfectly ripe. It happens more often than not. But it wasn't yet turning brown when I cut it open, so a new recipe was born.

I started with some thin-sliced boneless skinless chicken breast (I got lazy and bought thin sliced last time because I suspected I'd be doing a great deal of rolls or stuffed chicken), the avocado, and some cream cheese (whenever I say cream cheese, I really mean neufchatel since I use it almost exclusively). Then I looked around the kitchen and decided to keep it very simple: Lime juice, garlic powder, and some Olde Thompson's garlic pepper. Only thing not pictured is the fresh ground pepper and paprika I decided to sprinkle on top later on.

After smashing the avocado and lime juice together with a fork, I added the cream cheese and seasonings and mixed until it was smooth. Since I had the thin-sliced chicken I could just spoon some avocado mixture onto it and fold it over. If you've got regular boneless skinless breast, you'll need to pound it to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch flat.

See what's left in the bowl? That's not a mistake. I purposely made this using two breasts instead of four not only because there are only two of us but because I also have some onion bagels that pretty much demanded I spread the avocado mixture on them for my evening snack. I'm writing the recipe as it should be for four servings, however.

I used one of my 9x9-inch square pans, but it doesn't really matter what you use. It also doesn't matter if you use glass or metal. Just remember to coat it with nonstick cooking spray or you're going to have a heck of a time getting these out, especially if you fill them with more avocado mixture than will actually fit. I know nothing about that. Not at all.

This is where I decided to sprinkle them with some pepper and paprika just to make them prettier and add more flavour. My mother was recently told by her doctor to cut back on her sodium intake as well as her carbs, or I'd have just done a few more twists of the Olde Thompson's.

After about 35 minutes in the oven, out came moist, flavourful chicken with tasty avocado filling oozing out of it. I keep seeing online how avocado turns bitter when you cook it, but I've honestly never experienced that. I don't know if I'm just lucky or what, but this tasted almost exactly the same as it did when I licked the fork.

To make a meal out of it, I went lazy yet healthy. I microwaved some Green Giant "healthy vision" frozen vegetables, and warmed up a can of Del Monte zucchini in tomato sauce (the low sodium version). In all it made a pretty darn fine meal, and only took 45 minutes from the time I snapped the first picture until we were eating. Not bad at all!

Avocado-Stuffed Chicken

Serves 4

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (thin-sliced or pounded flat, 4 pieces)

1 large avocado

1 tablespoon lime juice

4 ounces neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese), softened

1/2 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

Preheat oven to 350F; coat a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.

If using thin-sliced chicken, lay it on a work surface. If using regular chicken breast, lay it between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound until 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.

In a small bowl, mash avocado and lime juice together with a fork. Add neufchatel cheese, garlic-pepper seasoning, and garlic powder and mash together until smooth.

Divide avocado mixture evenly between chicken pieces, using only one half of each, and fold top over to cover but not enclose filling. Carefully move each piece to prepared pan, making sure they are not touching.

Bake at 350F for 35 minutes, let stand 3-5 minutes, and serve.

Serving Size: 216g

Calories: 396

Calories from Fat: 224

Total Fat: 24.9g

Saturated Fat: 8.6g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 122mg

Sodium: 223mg

Total Carbohydrates: 6.4g

Dietary Fiber: 3.5g

Sugars: 1.4g

Protein: 36.7g