Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

We had this for dinner last night and it was delicious! I served it with corn on the cob. I made a few modifications to the original recipe from eatingwell.com… found here: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/quick_chicken_cordon_bleu.html. My changes are in bold below.

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 1/4-1 1/2 pounds), trimmed and tenders removed -  I used 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs.
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shredded Gruyère or Swiss cheese – I used mozzarella cheese and about doubled the amount.
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese
• 1/4 cup coarse dry whole-wheat breadcrumbs – I used regular plain breadcrumbs.
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or thyme
• 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/4 cup chopped ham  - I used deli ham and didn’t measure, probably about 7 slices.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and salt. Combine cheese and cream cheese in a bowl. Combine the remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper with breadcrumbs, parsley (or thyme) and 2 teaspoons oil in another bowl.
3. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in a large, ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Move the chicken to the center so all pieces are touching. Spread with the cheese mixture, sprinkle with ham, then top with the breadcrumb mixture.
4. Bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F, 5 to 7 minutes.
1. I baked mine for 30 minutes and covered with foil for part of the time to prevent burning. I just wanted to be sure it was cooked through.

It was delicious!