Greek Chicken

This is a fun twist for chicken that's easy enough for a weeknight dinner and impressive enough to serve guests at a dinner party! I especially like it for a dinner party because the long baking time gets you out of the kitchen and enjoying appetizers with your guests.

You can use more or fewer chicken breasts in this recipe - I ended up with 6 "rolls" using three chicken breasts that I cut in half. You could end up with as many as 8 rolls and have plenty of sauce, so you can just kind of "wing it" with the chicken amounts. Get it? Wing it? Well, I thought it was funny.

The first step is to flatten the chicken breasts, so they can be filled and rolled. I was dealing with some pretty large chickens here, so I cut the breasts in half lengthwise first.



Once the chicken is flattened, you'll want a piece that's abou 6-7 inches long and 3 inches wide, so you'll need to judge whether or not your pieces need to be cut in half.

Next put the pieces, one at a time, on a large piece of plastic wrap, and fold it over to cover the chicken. Then pound with a meat mallet until equally flat and the appropriate size.



Once it's pounded, it will look like this:



Next, spoon the cheese down the middle of the chicken pieces.



Now roll up the chicken, starting at one end,



then place seam side down in a baking dish.



For the sauce, combine the tomatoes, olives,



and cornstarch in a medium bowl.



Mix well to incorporate the cornstarch, then pour over the chicken in the dish.



Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the chicken tests done. Serve with pasta to soak up all the great sauce! Suggested side dishes: fried zucchini (pictured above) or roasted vegetables or garlicky green beans with mushrooms (sprinkle the green beans with feta before serving!)

There are more great recipes at Cooking Thursday, the Krazy Kitchen, Foodie Friday, Friday Food and Food on Fridays.

Greek Chicken

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4-6 Tbsp. feta cheese with herbs
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil and herbs
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives
4 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt

Flatten each chicken breast with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Spoon 1 Tbsp. feta cheese down center of chicken; roll up and place seam side down in a small baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, olives, cornstarch and salt. Pour over chicken.

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until chicken juices run clear when pierced with a fork. Serves 4-6.