This post was made possible thanks to Freshlife who have two summer hampers to give away.
Competition closed.
Winners: Congratulations to Kate Rassie and Holly Jay P! You are the winners of the Freshlife Summer hampers.
November is my favourite month as it’s my birthday month. Each year, I use my birthday as an excuse to celebrate for at least 2 weeks. In my world, celebrating includes great food and great company. My social life really amps up this time of year, as I get ready for the summer season.
Sometime before Christmas are mandatory end-of-year catch ups, often over grazing platters and bottles of whatever you fancy. There will be cheese, crackers, fresh and dried fruit, nuts and various cold cuts. Having a few staples in your pantry is ideal and Freshlife nuts and dried fruit are great to have on hand for those occasions. Cooking at home over summer should be painless, delicious and not too harsh on the wallet.
A recipe to celebrate
Made with Freshlife’s pistachio kernels, dried cranberries and silver platter dried apricots, I was inspired by the festive colours of cranberries and pistachios and threw in apricots just because they play well with chicken. This tastes as good as it looks and with the festive season just around the corner, this is a winning recipe to tuck up your sleeve.
I’ve created this recipe to be easy enough for weeknights but fancy enough for weekend guests. Ready in 30 minutes, this recipe serves two hungry adults but can easily be doubled or tripled to serve more. Dished up on your favourite platter, taking these bad boys to your next potluck will be sure to impress. The sliced portions are great for appetites of different sizes and can be served hot or cold.
Keeping in season, I served these with roasted asparagus, roasted vine tomatoes, and baby potatoes. Just drizzle the asparagus and vine tomatoes with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper, then pop into the oven at the same time as the chicken. While everything is in the oven, boil some baby potatoes for 15 minutes, drain and toss with a little butter and fresh chopped mint. Everything will be ready at the same time. Alternatively, you can whip up a salad instead of the roasted veges for a lighter summer meal.
Celebration stuffed chicken breast
Makes 2 stuffed chicken breast halves (feeds 2 hungry adults)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of FreshLife pistachio kernels, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons of FreshLife sweetened, dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons dried FreshLife silver platter apricots, roughly chopped
- A handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese
- 2 skinless free range chicken breast halves
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- To make the filling, take a small bowl and add the chopped pistachios, cranberries, apricots, parsley and cream cheese. Mix with a spoon until well distributed.
- Pat dry the chicken breast and slice horizontally to create a large pocket in each breast. Season all over with salt and pepper, spoon half of the filling mixture into each breast. Secure with toothpicks to close.
- Place an ovenproof pan* on high heat and once hot, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil. Place stuffed chicken breasts in the pan and fry for 5 minutes per side. Remove from heat and place* in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven, rest for a few minutes before removing toothpicks and slicing into 2cm thick rounds. Can be served hot or cold. If serving cold, leave unsliced, cool, cover and refrigerate. Remove all toothpicks and slice before serving.
- Serve with summer vegetables, baby potatoes and/or a green salad.
- *I used my cast iron pan but if you do not have one, use a regular frying pan and then transfer to an oven safe dish before placing the chicken into the oven.
Giveaway terms and conditions
- Open to New Zealand residents only.
- One entry per person.
- Entries close 6 December 2017 and two winners will be drawn 7 December 2017, contacted by email and announced here and on social media.
- In the event that the winner is not contactable within 3 days, Bunny Eats Design reserves the right to redraw a winner.
- Also, don’t forget to like the FreshLife page on Facebook.
Bunny Eats Design 
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I love this recipe! Dish looks delicious.
Happy birthday! It’s your birthday you can celebrate it for the whole month should you choose to. 🎉
Thanks Eartha! I like how you think 🙂
I love this combination for the stuffing. Looks so delicious. And I completely agree – one day is not nearly enough to celebrate a birthday. I always try and stretch it out!
We love Apricot Chicken but Celebration stuffed chicken breast sounds delicious. We will have to try that. 😀
My favourite dish involving nuts is vanilla cashew chia pudding.
Great idea – especially in time for the holiday season! My favourite dish involving nuts is a Karen Martini recipe in which chicken thighs are braised in the oven with olives, dried Muscat and chopped almonds.
Got to be satay chicken! Can’t get enough of the peanut sauce especially when it’s got a spicy kick! This sounds lush though so will definitely have to try it.
I love anything with pinenuts! Chicken stuffed with spinach cream cheese and pinenuts is delicious too.
Homemade satay chicken, so yum and it’s quick and easy to whip up on those nights we’re a bit pressed for time. This recipe sounds pretty delicious too, will have to give it a try.
I love chicken & vegetable stir fry with cashews
Happy Birthday Genie…yeah why not being festive for a week or two on your birthday? After all,it is a celebration of life…:)
Hmmm…chicken and cashew is always a hit in our family…a weekend treat to us. And, oh,should not forget chicken kebab which chuncky satay marinade. Thanks for the chance…:) my birthday is on December 25 and will be celebrating the entire month too…:D
We love curries with cashew nuts in them
I do a lovely Peter Gordon Israeli couscous salad featuring asparagus, freshly-podded broad beans, mushrooms, crumbled feta and pistachios. It’s from his book Everyday and makes a brilliant partner for steak or lamb, with fresh sourdough for mopping. The pistachios are the crowning glory: they look lovely with their lime hues, and add the perfect bursts of crunch and salt. People ask constantly for the recipe.
In the sweet domain, there’s nothing like a maple pecan tart. I’ve got a really easy recipe with a homemade shortcrust pastry; an easy filling and a glossy pecan-studded topping. Perfect served warm with softly-whipped cream…
I love Baklava with homemade cashew and pistachio ice-cream
I just love pistachios, cashews and apricot stuffing in a chicken and roasted!
I’m a huge fan of apricot with chicken! It’s great in sandwiches with it, but also as a stuffing ingredient. delicious!
I’m a huge fan of chicken and apricot! It’s great in sandwiches but also as a stuffing!
Macadamia nut crust chicken! So yummy and definitly makes me think of summer 😊
I love to add peanut in many dishes because it really adds another texture to the food. Som-tum(Thai papaya salad) is my favorite dish and with peanuts in it just add to another level. Also massaman curry is good if you add peanut while cooking it. And in Thailand we actually add them in these food 🙂
I love panacakes with peanut butter and sliced cheese for breakfast!
Years ago I ate this amazing nut-crusted lamb chops (hazelnut?) at this little French bistro, with boisterous French waiters, in Auckland city that is now sadly gone. I should really try to recreate it one day but baulked at the idea of crushing nuts manually… Although with food processor now in the house, this might be possible!
My favourite dish has to be pasta with pesto, parmesan and pinenuts! So simple and moreish.
This time of year I love a cathedral Xmas cake with heaps of different nuts and glacé fruits
I love Brownies! If I’m doing the healthier way I make them using ground nuts and pureed apple/banana etc, or on other days it’s the full fat go for it deliciousness with chocolate, sugar, walnuts – the works!