Blue Cheese & Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast

<<Since this has been my #1 trending recipe for the past two years, I have decided

 to finally update the pictures!now back to the original post which was published on 2/25/12>>

My life has gone through a wonderful transformation! Our baby girl is 6 weeks old, and its time to dust off those cookbooks and start trying out some new recipes!! Very blessed to have a happy, calm baby who sleeps at predictable intervals! :)

On to the cooking....
I marinate my chicken breast overnight or at least a few hours before in a tablespoon mayo, Italian dressing, sea salt & pepper, and whatever spice I feel like or have on hand. Make sure you season the chicken well, bc this is what's going to give it FLAVOR! I used Weber's Kickin' Chicken, gives it a nice punch but not too hot so that my toddler would eat it too!

 I have been on a Weber Spice binge....they are ALL delicious
and add great flavor to everything I have tried them with!

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
The stuffing ingredients:
1/4c. crumbled blue cheese
1/2c. sliced portabella mushrooms

1/ Preheat oven 350F.
2/ Saute mushrooms in frying pan: add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt & pepper about 5-10min.
3/ Cut 1 inch wide slit into the the thick end of the chicken breast, and carefully cut down to the center of the chicken to form a pocket. This is one method, what I did for this post is I pounded the chicken breast since my chicken breasts where not thick to begin with. Then I added blue cheese, rolled it & secured it with a toothpick. (see pictures below).
4/ Divide mushroom and blue cheese evenly between the chicken breasts pockets (save some mushroom for garnish) .
5/ Sprinkle chicken with 1/4tsp. each of salt and pepper. I also added panko breadcrumbs for an added crunch.
6/ Bake chicken for 15-17min. Depending on the strength of your oven and when no longer pink in the middle. I broiled it for 3min so that the panko gets a nice golden color.

variation: you can also add 3 cups baby spinach with 1 minced garlic clove to the saute & even add in an oz. of chopped prosciutto after if you really want to be fancy ;)

The star (but simple) ingredients

Gettin' our choppin' on

Sauteing the mushrooms: EVOO, Balsamic vinegar, and some salt/pepper.
I decided to add Weber's Steak n' Chop spice, just bc it has a steak pictured on it,
 you can use it on basically anything (and in my case: everything!! ;)

pounding away, hope I don't wake the baby!

Forgot that I needed to add the mushrooms before taking the pic!

This is from the original post when I cut the chicken breast and stuffed it.

This is the rolled up method with the pounded chicken breast.

My little helper, she dragged the chair over, got a spoon and started mixing the quionoa!
(that 6 week old is 2.5 years old NOW!!)

Baked to perfection

I paired the chicken with parsley quinoa and a good ol' cucumer & tomato salad