Autumn Chicken Roulade

Have you ever made a roulade?  It sounds fancy, but it's really just a French word for a "Roll-Up."  You've probably had a pumpkin roll, which is a form of roulade.

I made a Chicken Roulade recipe from Clean Eating Magazine.  It was delicious.

I made two versions.  One with butternut squash for me; the other with sweet potato for my honey, who doesn't like squash.

I'd like to tell you that mine (with squash) was infinitely better than his (with sweet potato), but I didn't taste the sweet potato version and I have no idea if it was better or not.

So, first you chop up the squash or sweet potato and some shallots into small pieces.  Then you saute them into they are close to soft, but not quite soft.  You are going to bake them a little bit, so you don't want them too mushy.

While they saute, pound out some chicken breasts until they are thin.  I used 4 pieces of chicken so that we would have some left for lunch the following day.

Then you mix the mostly cooked vegetables with a little goat cheese, some bread crumbs, and some spices.  The recipe called for sage, but I didn't have any.  I used a rosemary chicken rub instead, and it was a good match.  Throw in a little salt and pepper.

 

You are supposed to use a piece of lean ham to wrap up the roulade, but I misread the label on the product I picked up at Whole Foods and ended up with some form of bacon instead.  Luckily, it only had 50 calories a slice, so I was still able to make do.

Now you are ready to roll up the roulades.  Start by laying down the bacon/ham, then topping it with a piece of pounded chicken.

Then you add on the squash/potato filling, and roll it up.  Firmly secure with toothpicks.  Don't forget where you put them!

Bake the roulades in the oven until the chicken is cooked.  Don't leave them in there too long...the chicken will easily overcook because it is so thin.  You could probably use a meat thermometer, but I just cut one open to see if the meat was still pink.

Make sure you pull out the toothpicks before serving.  The meat will hold itself together after cooking, so they won't be needed.

I served it with some Asian style stir fry veggies and a little quinoa.  That was mostly due to lack of planning for a side dish.  I was so focused on making the entree that I didn't put any thought into what to go with it.  Something seasonal would probably go well with this, like some Brussels Sprouts.

Sounds like I did it wrong, what with the vegetable side dish mis-match and all.  Guess I'll have to make it again!