Melly's Low Fat Chicken Cordon Bleu

After Hubby's birthday schnitzelpalooza, we had a left over pack of uncooked chicken scallopini and I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to do with it.  I had to make Chicken Cordon Bleu!

Anyone who says they don't like Chicken Cordon Bleu has never tried it.  I mean, let's look at the pieces: Chicken? Good.  Ham? Good. Cheese? Gooooood.  How could you go wrong?  And with some creative shopping, I was able to make this decadent dish with very little fat and calories.  Let's take a look shall we?

 You will need chicken breasts (either scallopini or pounded thin), low fat deli ham, 2% swiss cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil and wine.  Wine makes everything better.

I started by assembling my rolls. First I salt and peppered the chicken and then piled on a single slice of Kraft 2% Swiss Cheese cut (or torn) in half.

Next, I added a single slice of the low fat deli ham.

I rolled this up nice and tight and place them into a pan with olive oil on high heat.  If I had been able to find my wooden toothpicks, I would have stuck one in here to stabilize the roll.  But all I could find were plastic cocktail picks which would have melted and that would have been bad.  Instead I just made sure I placed them edge side down and kind of held them in place until the heat of the pan seared them shut.

After about 5 minutes, flip them over to brown the other side.

At this point, Hubby came into the kitchen saying that it smelled like bacon and how could this possibly be a healthy meal??? I reminded him that ham and bacon come from the same animal (sure Lisa, some maaaaagicccaaaaal animal) and so they smelled the same when cooking but that the ham and cheese I had purchased were low fat and I was using relatively little oil so he should just shut it. He grumbled something about shutting me (You'll practice me? What does that even mean? Is that supposed to be a threat?) and went back to watching football. 

After another 5 minutes or so, flip them back to the smooth side up, cover your pan and reduce the heat to medium.

Let these cook for another 10 - 15 minutes or until you prick one and the juices run clear.  Only prick one, no point in wasting the juices of more than one.  When they are done, remove the chicken rolls to a plate and cover with foil.

While they are resting, it is time to make the sauce.  Start by adding a tablespoon of flour to your pan drippings.

Whisk this around for a few minutes until the flour has had a chance to cook and absorb all the goodness in the bottom of the pan.  And then add 1/2 cup of white wine.  I was drinking Riesling that night so I was cooking with Riesling.  Any white wine would do.  All the alcohol will cook out but if you are sensitive to the taste or just don't like having wine in your house, you can absolutely skip this step and just add an extra 1/2 cup of chicken broth.

Whisk the wine and the flour mixture together for 3 - 5 minutes or until the wine has reduced by about half and then add in 1/2 cup to 1 cup of chicken broth.

Continue whisking, taking a concerted effort to break up any lumps.  Add in some dried parsley and salt and pepper if it needs it.

Continue to let this simmer until it has reduced and/or thickened to a state that you are happy with. 

And now it is time to make magic happen. 

Plate up a chicken roll next to a small pile of rice and a nice spicy arugula salad with some tomatoes, lightly dressed with olive oil.  Pour some sauce over the chicken and the rice and dig in!

Yum! Look at these layers of deliciousness! How can you not love this? 

Shopping List for Melly's Chicken Cordon Bleu - (serves 4 - 5)

• 1.5 lbs Chicken Breast either cut or pounded thin
• 1/4 lb Low Fat Deli Ham (I went to the deli counter and asked for 4 slices)
• 4 - 5 Slices Kraft 2% Swiss Cheese
• Salt/Pepper
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1/2 Cup White Wine
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth

For those of you who care, I plugged the recipe into Weight Watchers eTools and it tells me that a single Chicken Cordon Bleu Roll (with sauce) is 8 points plus.  Add that to 1/2 cup of rice for 3 points plus and the arugula salad for 1 points plus and you have a filling, tasty, soulful meal for 12 points plus.  Not too shabby in my book. 

And yes, for those of you who care some more, I DID make two references to The Simpson within two sentences.  And I don't regret it.