Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Roulades

What's a more ubiquitous healthy weeknight dinner than chicken?  It's simple to prepare, lean, and family friendly.  Only problem?  It's totally bland and boring.

When I meet a new client, they often tell me they changed their diet before, but found it was too boring to sustain.  When  I ask about what they ate, I get this response about 90% of the time:

"Baked chicken and vegetables.  And sometimes baked fish." 

Hopefully through reading this blog you've already seen that eating healthy is more than baked chicken and steamed vegetables.  But that doesn't mean you have to ditch the chicken.  Chicken is possibly the most versatile protein.   It can take on many different flavors and works with most cooking methods.  There's a reason you get 190,000,000 results when you google "chicken recipes."  Break out of the baked chicken rut and try these tips for making a delicious and interesting weeknight chicken. 

- Keep the skin on.  We all know it's the best part, but did you know it only contributes a measly gram of saturated fat to each serving?  If you've been passing over the much more juicy and flavorful dark meat in favor of lean and virtuous white meat, you'll be pleased to know this chicken thigh only contains an additional 1.5 grams saturated fat compared to an equal sized serving of chicken breast. 
- Chicken can be bland, but that means it can be a perfect vehicle for big, spicy flavors.  Try harissa marinated chicken, Szechuan chicken, and jerk chicken and you'll know what I mean. 
- I prefer chicken thighs, but if I'm going to use chicken breast, I often stew it, which keeps it from drying out.  For a weeknight braise, make sure the sauce has plenty of flavorful ingredients, since it won't be cooking quite as long. 
- On Sunday, roast a whole chicken and use the leftovers for dishes like tacos, chicken salad or to stuff baked potatoes.  And don't forget to save the bones to make chicken soup!
- Ground chicken breast can be terribly dry, but there is a simple (and healthy!) remedy.  Mix in diced or shredded vegetables, such as onion, zucchini and carrot, which release moisture as they cook. 
- If preparing a simple chicken dish, spend a few minutes whipping up a standout sauce.  Chimichurri, Asian dipping sauce, and tzatziki all come together in minutes. 
- Invest in a few interesting, high quality spice mixes.  We have a few spice mixes from Turkey and just a sprinkle turns grilled chicken into a standout meal. 

The chicken recipe I'm sharing today looks incredibly fancy, but if I wasn't taking pictures, this meal would have been ready in about 40 minutes.  This is actually one of the first chicken recipes I remember preparing in college, so you know it's simple.  I've switched up this recipe in so many ways, swapping out the filling for whatever combination of ingredients I have on hand.  I've done a version stuffed with dried figs and blue cheese and another with proscuitto and goat cheese.  You could also make this with skin-on chicken thighs, just cook it another 5 minutes.  This recipe hasn't failed me yet!

 Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Roulades

Serves 4

In keeping with the theme of simplicity, I served this with spinach sauteed with garlic and onions and 100% whole grain orzo tossed with fresh herbs and parmesan. 

1 lb chicken thighs, boneless and skinless. 
pesto
oil packed sun-dried tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
salt & freshly cracked black pepper
 your choice of seasoning (I used lemon pepper)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

If the chicken thighs are thick, place them in a large ziptop back and pound lightly with a meat mallet to about 1/4 inch thickness.  Lay flat on a cutting board, skin side down if not using skinless chicken.  Season with salt, pepper and your choice of seasoning. Add a thin layer of pesto over the meat and top with a few sun-dried tomatoes.  Wrap each piece of chicken up, as if you were wrapping sushi.  Place, seam-side down in a baking dish.  Brush each chicken thigh lightly with olive oil.  Season the outside with salt, pepper and seasoning.

Bake in the upper third of the oven for 20-25 minutes until browned and cooked through.  Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes.  Slice each chicken thigh into 1-inch rounds and serve.