Home Run - "Pasta-Less" Three-Cheese Chicken Cannelloni

I was about to ask a question again that I posed last night, and then I got smart!  I was about to re-ask:  "Can I get in trouble for posting a recipe that is not online?"  And then I realized how long the recipe was in the cookbook and saw I would have to retype it.  Which motivated me to GOOGLE it and voila - you can find just about ANYTHING on the world wide web!  But if you can't, as long as you give the creator credit, is it okay???  I know - I'm a rule follower, and don't want to break any kind of blogging code!

Anyways, I have provided links below, and this is from page 236 of "300 Under 300" by Lisa Lillien.

Let me digress a moment.  Can you even believe how far we have come since we entered the .com age?  I mean seriously - back in the day, think of how old school we were compared to now.  And not only that, most folks get their world wide web on their PHONES nowadays!  Seriously - communication has come such a long way, and I have mentioned to a few friends how interesting it would be to  write a thesis on specifically how social media has impacted our society.  Who knows where we will be in another ten years or so, but I will simply enjoy the ability to find out information with a couple of clicks.

So...as I mentioned, this is the Hungry Girl experiment.  I did my research, tried to find some recipes with ingredients that could be "re-used", made a "playbook" and have been having SO much fun in the kitchen again.  I was excited about an Italian dish that did not include pasta.  Although of course, I did include pasta as a side dish, but used portion control :)

Here is where I found the recipe - again, another delicious main dish from Hungry Girl, aka, Lisa Lillien.  Another low calorie, low fat, low carb and HIGH protein dish.  She has certainly used her smartness to pad the meal with vegetables and make you NOT hungry...hmmm...do you sense a connection with her name now?  :)

And of course...you know me by now.  I have included my "changes" from her original recipe.  Not many, but a few that I have noted below and those were captured in a bold, blue font :)  All I can say is thank goodness I won't develop supreme carpal tunnel syndrome by not having to type out the whole wonderful recipe below!

I doubled all ingredients except for the chicken.  And then, I was able to get 6 chicken pieces with the filling instead of 4, and I must say, just eating ONE was truly filling and delicious! 

Three-Cheese Chicken Cannelloni
PER SERVING (1 stuffed cutlet, 1/2 of recipe): 274 calories, 3.5g fat, 647mg sodium, 12g carbs, 2g fiber, 6g sugars, 43g protein -- PointsPlus® value 6*

Pasta is passé (and starchy!). We like our cheesy filling rolled up in CHICKEN! And we know you will too.






Ingredients:

1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach (I used a full bag of fresh spinach and sauteed it - see below)1/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1/3 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
2 tsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping
1 tsp. chopped garlic, divided
Dash nutmeg
Dash each salt and black pepper, or more to taste
Two 5-oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast cutlets
3/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. dried minced onion
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 stick light string cheese (I used a soy mozzarella cheese slice.  For next round, I may check out the calories in low fat shredded mozzarella cheese and if comparable, go with that.  Just a lot of work to shred cheese slices or sticks)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

*Changed from her original recipe.  Instead of:  "Place spinach and mushrooms in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute, until softened."  I used cooking spray and sauteed the fresh spinach and mushrooms.  I will say be SURE to do the blotting she mentions below, because after the first round of cooking, I had a layer of water in my pan!

Blot thoroughly, removing excess liquid. Add ricotta cheese, Parm-style topping, 1/2 tsp. garlic, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Place one chicken cutlet in a large sealable plastic bag and, removing as much air as possible, seal bag. Carefully pound chicken through the bag with a meat mallet or heavy can, until uniformly about 1/3-inch thick. Repeat with second cutlet.  (I did use think chicken cutlets already but did pound them a bit, being careful not to tear them)

Lay cutlets flat and spread evenly with veggie-cheese mixture. Starting with a longer side, roll up one cutlet (not too tightly or the filling will ooze!),   YES - this is true!!!  and secure with toothpicks - don't use colored ones - we had little circles of color!  Place in a baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Repeat with second cutlet. Cover pan with foil.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, Italian seasoning, and remaining 1/2 tsp. garlic. Mix well and set aside.   I actually decided to sautee this combination so the flavors could blend!

Break string cheese into thirds and place in a food processor or blender -- blend at high speed until cheese takes on a shredded or grated consistency. (Or just tear string cheese into pieces and roughly chop.) Set aside.  I used scissors to cut the slices of mozzarella into strips and then cubed them.  As I said above, I think I may check out the difference between regular shredded low-fat mozzarella.  Maybe I'm lazy?

Remove pan from the oven, and carefully remove foil. Spoon seasoned tomatoes equally over chicken, and sprinkle shredded/grated string cheese evenly over tomatoes. 

And this one is without mushrooms and without tomatoes for Miss Picky!




Some with mushrooms and some without



Return to the oven (uncovered) and bake for 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and cheese on top has melted. Remove toothpicks and enjoy!

Finished product with mushrooms and without!





The one without mushrooms OR tomatoes!





MAKES 2 SERVINGS

One of the "tweaks" that I made as well was to sautee the mushrooms separately from the spinach.  I just happen to have a non-mushroom loving family.  So I "customized" the recipe...even to the point where mine had EVERYTHING, my hubby's had everything but the 'shrooms and Lil' J had no mushrooms and even didn't want the tomatoes on top!

So...I paired it with some "bad for you" pasta (at least it was fresh and I just added in some spray butter, reduced fat parmesan cheese and parsley.

And some steamed vegetables...

It is just SO FUN to be back here again and I can't believe I am about to reach 1000 page hits!  I am quite international by now as well - so HELLO to all you countries who have popped in to say hi! 

Later, taters!