Love this chicken breast filling – makes it juicy and is low cal! Good also for Cooking with Kids

Chicken breasts can be dry. These are not. Use feta ( we make our own!) and tapenade which along with olive oil makes this yummy. Play the Potty Song for fun! I have adapted this from myrecipes.com.

Ingredients

•   4 5- to 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken-breast halves ( we only use organic chicken)
• 2 ounces crumbled Feta ( here is our home made feta in brine)
• 4 tablespoons black-olive tapenade or paste
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup salsa fresca ( chopped tomatoes and onions with cilantro if you prefer)
• 1  5-ounce package baby spinach
•   1 large lemon ( below is Jack reading me my recipe – he taught himself to read at 4!)
• 4 tablespoons capers packed in liquid (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Cut a 2-inch pocket in the thickest part of each chicken-breast half.
3.  In a small bowl, combine the Feta and tapenade, then stuff ¼ of the mixture into each pocket. This is something that the children can do – and tasting is permitted! I have found that my eldest grandson Jack LOVES feta! Who knew?
4. In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil on medium to high heat.
5. Season the chicken with the pepper and add it to the skillet, cooking 2 minutes on each side or until brown. ( My husband doesn’t like pepper so we go light on this part).
6. Transfer to an oven-safe baking dish drizzled with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and bake for 18 minutes.
7. When the chicken is 5 minutes from being finished, put the remaining olive oil and the salsa in the skillet and heat through. How do you tell when it is nearly ready? Prick it with a toothpick or a fork and see if the juices are pink or colorless. Pink means it needs more cooking. Colorless means it’s ready!
8. Add the spinach and cook until slightly wilted. This happens VERY quickly.
9. Slice the chicken and serve it with a squeeze of lemon juice and the capers, if desired, with the spinach on the side.