What better way to make veggies taste extra good, but still maintain their natural taste? With cheese and inside something else. Introducing a dish that is both healthy, filling, AND full of all the good stuff: Broccoli and Parmesan stuffed chicken with Tarragon oil. 

The best part about this meal is that you don’t loose the fresh taste of the broccoli within the chicken. Instead, every bite is full of a little crunch and smoothness with the Parmesan cheese. The homemade Tarragon oil adds moistness and flavor to the chicken and every bite is a little pocket of heaven.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs. skinless boneless chicken
• 1 large head of broccoli
• 1 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 5 fresh sprigs of tarragon
• 1/2 tablespoon of salt
• 1/2 tablespoon of pepper

Shopping List

• Chicken: my recommendation is to buy the thinly sliced (already pounded) chicken breasts for easy rolling. The alternative is to buy full sized plump chicken breasts and pound them yourself at home. For ease, look for the thinly sliced.
• Broccoli: just go to your fresh produce section and pick out the healthiest sized head of broccoli. Usually 1 head of broccoli includes about 3-4 stalks (a stalk is the equivalent to what looks like a “tree”)
• Parmesan cheese: I like to grate my own cheese from a block of cheese vs. the pre-packaged and already shaved. It’s up to you.
• Tarragon: also in your grocery store’s produce section, you should be able to find small containers of fresh herbs. I recommend buying your tarragon from here. The containers are plentiful with the herb and will make it more simple for you when extracting the tarragon leaves for the homemade oil.

Recipe

First, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a glass baking dish (a dish, not a shallow pan) for the chicken by lightly spraying with cooking oil. Set aside. Also, measure 3 cups of cold water (lightly salted) and put in a pot to boil on medium to high heat (this will be for the broccoli).

Next, remove the chicken from it’s packaging and rinse piece by piece in cold water. Line a cutting board with a few sheets of paper towel and pat dry the chicken and place on the plate after you’ve washed each piece. Don’t stack the chicken, but lay the pieces side by side. After you’ve finished rinsing and drying the chicken, liberally salt and pepper each piece.

Set aside the chicken and now on to the broccoli cheese filling! Take the head of broccoli you bought and rinse it in cold water. Next, cut off the thick stem so you’re working with only the heads. Take a sharp knife and cut the broccoli into approximately .5 inch/small pieces. However, make sure the broccoli stays in tact and doesn’t get too flakey and loose it’s shape.

By this time, the water you placed on the stove should be boiling. Reduce the heat to a simmer and drop in the broccoli for approximately 7-10 minutes, until tender. Keep uncovered; the broccoli should float and you can stir it occasionally.

Remove the broccoli, put in a strainer, and run under cold water over it for 5 seconds. This trick is to a) help the broccoli keep it’s bright green color, and b) maintain the crispness and flavor of the broccoli. Transfer the broccoli to a medium sized mixing bowl.

On to the Parmesan cheese. Measure out 1 cup of shaven cheese – either use the pre-shaved that you bought of use a cheese grater yourself. If you decide to use a cheese grater, be careful of your fingers and don’t rush!

Once you’ve measured out the 1 cup of cheese, lightly mix in with the broccoli. Add a pinch of salt and pepper at the end and set aside.

Now, on to the “putting-it-all-together” part! On a clean and wide counter surface line up the following in this order from left to right: Broccoli and cheese mixture in a bowl, thinly sliced salt and peppered chicken breast on a plate, and the pre-greased glass baking dish.

Step 1: use your hands to gather a small handful (approximately 2 golf balls sized) of the broccoli cheese mixture.

Step 2: Lay the mixture in the middle of the chicken breast

Step 3: Roll the chicken length wise, from one end to the other (you’ll likely be able to roll it about 1.5 – 2 times on top of itself. Also, the chicken should stay together pretty well and the broccoli cheese mixture should stay compact inside.

Step 4: Place the rolled up piece of chicken in the dish, starting at one end of the dish and working your way to the other. Important: place the chicken face down on the place the two ends of the chicken meet so that it won’t unravel as it bakes.

Repeat steps 1 through 4 until you have used all the chicken and you’ve filled the dish that is now almost ready go into the oven.

The final preparation step is the Tarragon Olive Oil. This is very simple.

First, measure out 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin olive oil and put into a small dish. Next, take the dried tarragon and with your fingers pinch off the tiny leaves and let fall into the oil. Use your judgment as to how concentrated you want the oil (i.e. how tarragon-y you want it to taste). Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix.

Next, and finally, take a “kitchen paint brush” (as pictured below) and dip into the tarragon oil. Lightly drizzle/paint each rolled up piece of chicken in the glass bowl.

Place the glass baking dish with the chicken in it in the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes. At that point, carefully cut into one piece using a fork and knife and check that the chicken is not translucent or pink. If it seems cooked through and white, it’s time to take it out!

This dish works well with a side of roasted carrots and rice. Those recipes to come in future posts so stay tuned! But in the meantime, enjoy your broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken. It’s so easy to make with few ingredients but quick to impress – a great dish for hosting, especially when you want to go light on the fat and heavy on the veggies! Makes for the staple of a healthy meal all around. Enjoy!