What's this? A recipe that has nothing to do with fall desserts? I must be losing my edge. (Did I have an "edge" to begin with?)
I was on Pinterest the other day and was browsing all these pins about cheese trays with various fruits and nuts. Yes, I know I can't eat cheese... I have no clue how I ended up knee-deep in cheese tray pins. When I remembered I had a bag of dried apricots in the pantry, I did what any normal, not weird Pinterest user of sound mind would do: take all the goodness from a cheese tray and stuff it inside a chicken breast. If you think about it, it makes sense. I mean, does chicken breast actually have any flavor? No. That part is left up to us. One of my favorite ways to prepare chicken is to just shred it then mix it with mashed avocado, mayo, and lime juice. It's a very basic recreation of an arepa I had while visiting Colorado last year. I love to top it with unripened plantain slices fried in bacon fat. I've been having a hard time finding plantains lately and they are usually too ripe. I finally found some perfect plantains yesterday though! Right when I ran out of bacon fat but how could I complain when I have duck fat?
Want to know how I made this dairy free? Cashew cheese! Have you tried it yet? The soft cashew cheese reminds me of ricotta. So far, I've tried the plain and scallion. Almond milk cheese would also be a great substitute. I tested this recipe with both cashew cheese and real ricotta so I recommend either of those!
Recipe
Prep Time:
Yield:
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PinIngredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 4 oz cashew cheese or ricotta
- 10 dried apricots
- ¼ C walnut or pecan pieces
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp paprika
- ¼ C honey mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Chop the apricots into small pieces. In a small bowl, mix together the apricots, nuts, and cheese. If using cashew milk cheese, you will need to crumble it with a fork.
- Make a deep, lengthwise slit down one side of each chicken breast. You should end up with a sort of pocket. Use a spoon to stuff the cheese mixture into each chicken breast.
- Place the chicken into a greased glass baking dish then sprinkle on the salt, pepper, and paprika. Brush the honey mustard evenly over the tops of the chicken.
- Bake the chicken in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
The flavor combinations in this sound delicious!! I want to try it!
The flavor combinations are definitely somewhat adventurous but I really like the sweetness from the apricots and the tanginess from the cheese and honey mustard together. Glad it sounds good to you too!