Kale & Cabbage Stuffed Chicken Breast

This is not very different from the usual stuffed chicken breast recipes, like Mustard Leaves + Bergenost Cheese Stuffed Chicken.

We've moved away from frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts for the last year or so. Since the switch to free range chicken breasts available at the local market, we have also consciously reduced the chicken consumption - being the only preferred meat for home cooking.

So, any occasion we do cook chicken, which is probably once or twice a month, I try to make it worthwhile; and stuffed chicken is one such much-relished meal for the other half.

Pound the chicken breast to make a thin flat layer. Add the filling and roll or fold it and pin it together with a few toothpicks to hold the stuffing securely inside while the chicken cooks.

The filling this time turned out wonderful, and I reserved some as a warm side as well: Sauteed kale and cabbage bound together with leftover mashed potatoes and a bit of jalapeno jack and smoked gouda.

Cook on a cast iron skillet till fully done. It is a bit tricky to measure the inside chicken temperature as one can't be sure of one is measuring the temperature of the filling or the actual chicken breast, but, trial and error works, and when in doubt, I overcook. The mildly charred outside adds a layer of flavor.

Remove all the toothpicks before serving. Serve with  a simple tomato-red-pepper sauce

Easy Eggplant Bake

Eggplant Parmesan involves breading the eggplant slices and frying them before baking them. To make it a bit quicker and healthier without losing a lot of the flavors for a weeknight meal, I decided to skip the breading and frying/pan-frying the eggplant, and go light on the cheese.

This can be a meal in itself, or can be served along with a starter salad to round out the meal. I used home-made marinara sauce that I had canned from last summer's yield of tomatoes from our garden.

Large globe or black beauty eggplants work well for this recipe, but any favorite variety can be used. I like to cut them into discs as it makes it easy to layer them and overlap them for baking, but again, long slices is an option.

It is no secret that I love eggplant as quite a few of the recipes collected here seem to feature it :)

Ingredients
1-2 globe eggplant, cut into ¼ inch thick discs
2-3 cups of marinara sauce or any other favorite tomato sauce
2-3 cups freshly grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced thin
2-3 Tbsp olive oil, or any cooking spray
salt to taste
chopped fresh rosemary, oregano, spring onions for garnish

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 375°F;
2. Grease a roasting pan or casserole lightly with cooking spray (or brush with olive oil) and arrange a layer of eggplant slices at the bottom
3. Spread some sauce in a thin layer over the eggplant, sprinkle some some sliced garlic and some mozzarella
4. Add another layer of eggplant, sauce, garlic cheese and so on till all eggplant is used up, making sure to slightly overlap the eggplant in each layer, and top with some extra cheese if preferred
5. Bake in the 375°F oven for about 10-15 minutes, checking to make sure cheese doesn't burn; reduce the heat to 350°F and finish cooking till eggplant is done to your liking and the cheese is melted
6. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve warm