The recipe list on this looks pretty overwhelming, but the actual process is actually super quick and easy.
Well, when I was slapping this little diddy together last night, it actually kinda felt like slacking. I really didn’t see it turning into a blog post (believe it or not, not ALL our recipes do). Once I finished the breading, though, we (because my husband actually took INTEREST at this point, which is rare) decided it absolutely would be a blog worthy event.
By the time I finished it, Hazel and Julie were already in bed, which I had planned on anyway because sometimes, we really need us some mommy and daddy time. (I’m sure Hazel didn’t mind missing out since she has recently turned her nose up at anything that isn’t a tomato, a dark colored berry, or extremely spicy.) Just as I’d hoped, this made the perfect in-home date food! My husband had two of each, the chicken AND the mushroom!
We hope you like it as much as we did!
A word to the wise: It’s worth making your mayo yourself from scratch. I was trying to find a short cut on that (because given how much mayo we go through in our house, it’s honestly kinda a pain), but when I read the ingredients on these “healthy” alternatives, the main ingredients were all still canola or soybean oil. Everyone interprets this diet differently, but I try to stick with the healthiest fats and oils I can find, since they’re the primary fuel source for the body, so I make my mayo with pasture raised egg yolks and avocado oil.
Bruschetta Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Portobello Mushroom
Ingredients:
Chicken
3 large chicken breasts, halved to make 6 thinner breasts
3 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tbs fresh oregano (or 2 tsp dried)
cracked black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 c mayo
1 c Whisps (or parmesan crisps of another sort. You could also probably use pork rinds but you’ll lose that lovely Umami you get with the parmesan!), placed in a ziplock bag and smashed to crumbs
1/4 c almond meal
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
Mushroom
4 large portobello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
1 tbs coarse dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tbs fresh chopped oregano (or 1 tsp dried oregano)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
fresh ground black pepper
4 c baby spinach
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs Kerrygold butter
4 oz shredded whole milk mozzarella
Bruschetta Topping
3 roma tomatoes, inner parts discarded and outer walls diced
3 large basil leaves, chiffonade
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
Method:
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Make marinades (Neither the chicken nor the mushrooms need to marinate very long, but I recommend starting with the chicken, so that’s how we will roll with this recipe.). For the chicken, whisk together the vinegar, oil, dijon, garlic cloves, fresh oregano, 1 tsp salt, and fresh cracked black pepper. Add the baking powder and whisk again. Add the chicken and make sure it’s all covered. Set aside. In another bowl, make the mushroom marinade by mixing the vinegar, oil, dijon, salt, pepper, spices, and oregano. Brush onto the mushrooms and let them chill on a non-stick cookie sheet. Set aside.
- In a large sauce pan over medium heat, melt the Kerrygold. Add the minced garlic and allow to get fragrant, about 30 seconds, then add the spinach. Saute until just wilted and salt to taste. Set aside.
- Throw together the breading for the chicken. In a shallow baking dish you can use to dredge the chicken, mix together the Whisp crumbs, almond meal, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- At this point, the chicken will have been marinating for about 15 minutes, so take it out and dry it on some paper towels. Salt them and brush them with the mayo. One by one, press them, mayo side down, into the Whisp breading and arrange on a greased cookie sheet.
- Place the mushrooms and the chicken into the center rack of the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes.
- Take the mushrooms out and blot out any liquid that has collected in the caps with paper towels. Divide the spinach between the four caps, then add the mozzarella. Place back in the oven on the bottom rack. Let this go for another maybe 3 minutes, then turn the heat to broil. Keep an eye on the chicken! Just get it so the top is crisp, then remove everything from the oven.
- While these rest a couple minutes, throw together the bruschetta in a bowl.
- Serve 1 chicken breast and 1 mushroom cap and top both with a sprinkling of the bruschetta mix. You will have 2 chicken breasts leftover to use for lunch tomorrow!
Macros:
kCal: 472; Fat: 30.9 g; Carbs: 4.1 g; Fiber: 2.4 g; Protein: 37.6 g
Macros are estimated here. I estimate each whole chicken breast at about 8 oz, since this is, on average, the size I buy. Since the marinade obviously doesn’t get consumed, I don’t count it. Also, I measure Whisps with a cup measurer so I don’t know exactly how many we use. I estimate that 15 whisps is a quarter cup, so I tabulate this with 4 servings, but that is likely an overestimation. I tend to round up just to be safe. If you find that you are uncomfortable with my tabulation, I recommend redoing it for yourself.
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