Cheesy Chicken Rolls

We've kind of been in a rut over here when it comes to the things I make for dinner that I feel like we are on a rotation of boring dish after boring dish.  Part of the reason I started this blog was to find inspiration to make new and exciting dishes that were delicious but not very time consuming since I am now a busy mom of two who will be returning to work in just a few short weeks after 4 1/2 glorious months of maternity leave.  So last night I turned to my trusty Pinterest main dishes pin board and looked to see if something I had already pinned caught my eye.  Lo and behold, a while back I pinned a recipe for Chicken Kiev that looked promising.  Now, we all know that things on Pinterest can be hit or miss and I have a husband who can be somewhat picky about the things he eats so I was a little nervous to try something new. But I threw caution to the wind anyway and decided to try this recipe out.  Now, I really wasn't interested in using the butter the original recipe called for (because it calls for a lot) and thought that maybe adding cheese instead before rolling the chicken up would be better.  In the end, husband had a delicious cheesy chicken roll that he LOVED.  Chalk this one up to a Pinterest Win!

• 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh parsley (I only had dried and it was fine)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup dry Italian bread crumbs
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil

In a small bowl combine green onion, parsley and garlic; set aside.  In a shallow bowl stir together egg and water.  Place flour in another shallow bowl.  Place bread crumbs in a third shallow bowl.  Set aside.

Place a chicken breast half between 2 pieces of plastic wrap.  Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound chicken lightly into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick (I didn't have a meat mallet so I used a hand held potato masher.  True story.).  Remove plastic wrap.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with one-fourth of the green onion mixture and cheese (I used mozzarella but you can use an Italian cheese blend, cheddar or a Swiss cheese if you want).  Fold in sides of chicken; roll up.  Repeat with remaining chicken.   My roll-ups were a bit on the thicker side so I placed one or two toothpicks in each to hold them together and then took them out right before cooking.

Coat chicken rolls with flour.  Dip in egg mixture; coat with bread crumbs.  Dip in egg mixture again; coat with additional bread crumbs, making sure to coat ends well to seal in the cheese and green onion mixture.  Place coated chicken in a 2-quart rectangular baking dish.  Cover and chill for 1 to 24 hours.

In a large skillet, melt the 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat; then add the oil.  Add chilled chicken rolls.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until golden brown, turning to brown on all sides.  Place rolls in a 2-quart rectangular baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.  Spoon any drippings over rolls and serve with a side of rice or noodles.

(note:  If you are interested, you can find the original recipe for Chicken Kiev here)