Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breast

This is the second time that I made stuffed chicken breast. The last time I made it, my friend told me it was the best meal anyone had ever made for him and that he had been worried about what type of food we were going to be eating considering that I was on the paleo diet. Tonight was a slight variation from before, but basically the same.

Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breast
1 tsp coconut oil
2 mushrooms, chopped
1 large shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 chicken breast
2 slices bacon
roasted red pepper (See Pistachio-Crusted Chicken Breast for roasting instructions)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat coconut oil in skillet over medium-low heat. Once the oil has liquefied (coconut oil is solid at room temp), add shallots and garlic. Cook until the shallots are soft. Add mushrooms and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until the mushrooms have cooked down. While the veggies are cooking, prep the chicken. To do this, you need two pieces of plastic wrap and a meat tenderizer (you'll want to use the flat end). If you don't have a meat tenderizer, you can use a study pan. Get your hand a little wet and rub it across your counter-top, then place one piece of plastic wrap on your counter (the water will keep the bottom piece from sliding around on you). Place the chicken on the plastic wrap and cover with the second piece of plastic wrap. Take whatever instrument you have available to pound the chicken so that it's roughly 1/4" thick. When the stuffing is fully cooked, place a mound of about 1/3 cup onto the chicken. Top with a few pieces of roasted red pepper, and roll the chicken around the stuffing. Then take your bacon and wrap it around the chicken, using toothpicks to hold the bacon in place and the edges of the chicken together.

Place wrapped chicken on a greased baking pan (I used a tiny amount of coconut oil to do this) and cook for 30-35 minutes. Once the bacon starts to look a little crispy on top, flip the chicken breast over and switch the oven to broil. Watch the bacon closely so that it doesn't burn; this will only take 3-5 minutes. The flip and broil allows the bacon that was under the chicken breast to get a little crispy as well.

Serve over mixed salad greens with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Or over sauteed spinach or kale.

If you want to make the stuffing extra delicious:
Do this before cooking the shallots, garlic, or mushrooms (so before you put it into the pan, possibly even before you chop everything). Cut two slices of bacon into bite size pieces (these two slices are in addition to the two you need to wrap the chicken breast). Pan fry these pieces over low heat so you don't burn them. Once they are fully cooked and crispy, remove the bacon but leave the rendered fat in the pan. Add the shallots and garlic, cooking until the shallots are soft. Then, add the mushrooms and cook for 5-10 minutes. Mix in the chopped bacon and use this stuffing mixture for your chicken.