Ever since Weight Watchers launched their Freestyle Plan, which made chicken (among many other items) zero points, I have been eating a lot more of it in my diet. I love that Freestyle allows me to eat zero or low point meals throughout the day so that I might splurge on a craving – something sweet, crunchy, or a glass of wine – with my leftover points. But it can quickly become boring. So to keep it interesting, I’m always trying to come up with new ways to prepare chicken or am on the look-out for intriguing recipes to try.
Last week I shared a homemade, zero point Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. The recipe makes 2 cups of sauce. I had suggested one way to use the sauce was to put it over chicken. So with what I had left over, I created a main dish that incorporates that sauce to share with you today.
Jazz up your run-of-the-mill chicken dinner with this healthy Cheese-Stuffed Roasted Red Pepper Chicken – which clocks in at only 1 Weight Watchers Freestyle Point. Hooray for Freestyle!
I used low-fat ricotta in the chicken breast which was tasty yet simple flavor-wise. But if you want to punch up the flavor, fat-free feta or goat cheese would provide some nice zip. (If you use fat-free feta, the points stay the same. Goat cheese would change the point value to 4 points, so be aware of that.)
The Method
Heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. With a knife, cut a lengthwise slit into each breast half. Don’t cut all the way through, but just nearly. Sprinkle salt and pepper both inside and outside.
Add 2 tbsp of cheese to the inside of each chicken portion. If using ricotta, sprinkle cheese with more salt and pepper. Use toothpicks to fasten the edges together so that they are closed and will hold in cheese.
Add to pan and cook for 4 minutes per side. If desired, rotate to make even grill marks. Spoon 3 tbsp of Roasted Red Pepper Sauce onto each chicken breast.
Sprinkle 2 tsp of Parmesan over the sauce.
With an oven mitt or potholder, place pan into oven and bake for 10 minutes or until meat has reached an internal temperature of 175 degrees.
Cheese-Stuffed Roasted Red Pepper Chicken
Cheese-Stuffed Roasted Red Pepper Chicken
Weight Watchers = 1 Freestyle Point
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breast halves (approx. 2 lbs)
- salt
- pepper
- 1/2 cup low-fat ricotta
- 3/4 cup Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- 8 tsp grated Parmesan
- 20-25 toothpicks (I used about 4-5 per chicken portion)
Instructions
- Heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat, and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- With a knife, cut a lengthwise slit into each chicken breast half and keep cutting until you've cut nearly in half, but without cutting all the way through.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper onto inside and outside of chicken. Add 2 tbsp of cheese to inside of each chicken breast half. Sprinkle a pinch more salt and pepper onto cheese. Use toothpicks to hold in cheese and fasten the edges together so that they are closed.
- Add chicken to pan and cook for 4 minutes per side. If desired, rotate to make even grill marks.
- Spoon 3 tbsp of Roasted Red Pepper Sauce onto each chicken portion. Sprinkle 2 tsp of Parmesan over the sauce.
- With an oven mitt or potholder, place pan into oven and bake for 10 minutes or until chicken has internal temperature of 175 degrees.
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