Stuffed Chicken Thighs

After watching documentaries like "Food, Inc." we've gravitated toward "happy," more natural meat—but with happy meat comes higher cost. Organic chicken breast is sometimes prohibitive, so MikeDub and I have switched to eating a great deal of dark meat. (Hence, the stuffed thighs.)


These were super-simple, but incredibly delicious. I pounded the thickest part of the thighs with a meat mallet to thin them out and give a bit more room for the stuffing. The only real consideration is not stuffing them so full that you can't tie them closed. 


MikeDub naturally fell in love with the bacon stuffed thighs, and I was more of a fan of the ones filled with greens. Either way, the simplicity of this dish was hidden by well-balanced flavors, and there's much room for experimentation!


Bacon-Stuffing


Bacon: I cooked this briefly on paper towels in the microwave (2 minutes for 5 strips); the bacon will continue to cook in the oven, but this method helps to remove a bit of the fat first. 
Thinly-sliced mushroom
Coarsely chopped green onion
Feta cheese


Sunflower Sprout Stuffing


Sunflower sprouts
Thinly-sliced mushroom
Coarsely chopped green onion
Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 350 º. Place the toppings on the flattened chicken, being careful not to overfill. To wrap: place the string under the piece of chicken, roll up the edges, and tie the chicken. (MikeDub has had success holding rolled chicken together with toothpicks if you don't have cooking string.) Place the chicken in a baking pan and cook for about an hour. 

I like to baste every twenty minutes, and drain some of the excess fat from the bacon when I baste.