You know how last week, I posted that great chicken rollatini dish with zucchini?  Well, once one of Gina's recipes on skinnytaste.com got my family's mouth watering, I couldn't wait to see how another one of her recipes would be!  Most of the meals we make on Sundays have a centerpiece dish.  Then, I work the rest of my dinner around that.  For me, the centerpiece of our dinner was Jennie's Italian Fried Rice from Wednesday.  Once you have the centerpiece set, it's time to pick your accompaniments.  I know its weird to think of dinner as an "accompaniment" but coming from the girl who could eat vegetable fried rice for dinner, chicken was going to have to take a backseat.

Luckily for us, the chicken shone all on its own.  It's no surprise that Gina has a loyal following after tasting these dishes.  I know that once John gets here, we will continue to use her website more and more to make healthy choices for ourselves in our everyday life.  That is one of our goals when we finally get to see one another again (more than once every few weeks, that is).

Living alone is so hard and cooking for one is hard too.  As you know from Monday's post, I found an apartment this past weekend and will be moving to my own place in April.  As excited as I am, I'm also dreading the thought of cooking for one again.  But, for the 10 weeks or so that I will be alone, I'm hoping that my blog takes a turn for the best--to learn how to incorporate leftovers into exciting meals (dorm room dinners anyone?) and how to cook for one without a lot of fuss.  The people I have met in New York so far seem to be constantly challenged by this problem.  I'd love to make cooking for one fun!  But, while I'm still here, I'm going to be cooking Mom and Dad and Awa up a storm!
Chicken Rollatini with Spinach and Cheese (adapted from here)
Serves:  8
8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each
1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 egg
5 oz frozen spinach, squeezed dry of any liquid
6 tbsp part skim ricotta cheese
6 oz part skim mozzarella, grated
1 cup marinara sauce


Preheat oven to 450 F. Lightly spray a baking dish with cooking spray.  In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs and 2 tablespoons grated cheese.  Beat the egg lightly in another bowl.  Combine half of the mozzarella cheese, remaining grated cheese, spinach, and ricotta cheese.  Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread two tablespoons of spinach-cheese mixture on each cutlet.  Loosely roll each one and keep them seam side down.  Dip chicken in egg mixture, then in breadcrumbs, and place seam side down in a baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining chicken.  Bake 25 minutes.  Then, add sauce and mozzarella cheese.  Bake until cheese is melted and sauce is warmed through (about 5 minutes). 

Until the next time my oven is on...