Stuffed Chicken Breasts and Portobello Mushrooms

I told myself I should stop borrowing cookbooks so I can finally put together a cycle menu, but I forgot about this cookbook that I put a hold on months ago. My turn to borrow the book came about a week ago. This cookbook, Adaptable Feast, is suppose to make cooking in a mixed-diet household easy and delicious. A single recipe is adapted to accommodate vegetarians (and sometimes vegans) and omnivores. There's no need to cook two different dishes! Here's the first recipe I tried. I cooked the portobello mushroom portion of the recipe only as I don't buy chicken breasts anymore.

This all-in-one recipe is a great option for weeknight dinners when you're in the mood for something a little special but don't have the time to make multiple dishes. The zucchini keeps the stuffing extraordinarily moist and works equally well stuffed under the chicken breast skin as mounded in portobello mushrooms. The cooking time for both is about the same. Serve this dish with some buttered broccoli and you're done!

Serves 1-2 vegetarians and 3 omnivores

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1-1/4 cups grated zucchini (1 medium)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
3 cups fresh whole-wheat bread crumbs (from 4 slices of bread) - see Tip
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 medium portobello mushrooms, stemmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
1/2 cup dry white wine

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Line a small rimmed baking sheet or baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Melt the butter in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and bell pepper and saute, stirring constantly, until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the onion mixture with the zucchini, basil, parsley, bread crumbs and cheese. (Set the pan aside for later use.) Season the stuffing with the salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the egg and set aside.
3. VEGETARIAN: Rub the mushrooms with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, season both sides with the salt and pepper, and place them gill side up on the prepared baking sheet. Mound each mushroom with 1/2 cup of the stuffing; set aside.
4. Carefully slide your fingers under the chicken breasts' skin to loosen it. Stuff 1/2 cup of the stuffing under the skin of each breast. Season both sides of the chicken with the salt and pepper and place in the ovenproof saute pan. (The recipe can be prepared up to this point up to 24 hours in advance, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated.)
5. Drizzle the chicken with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and transfer to the oven in the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. VEGETARIAN: Transfer the stuffed mushroom to the oven.
7. Bake both entrees until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F when inserted in the thickest part of the chicken and the mushrooms are tender when cut into with a paring knife, about 35 minutes more.
8. VEGETARIAN: Put the mushrooms on 1 or 2 dinner plates and cover loosely with foil until ready to serve.
9. Place the chicken breasts on 3 dinner plates. Place the saute pan on the stove over high heat. Add the wine and bring to a simmer, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer until the wine has reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the chicken breasts and serve.

TIP: Do not use canned, sandy-textured bread crumbs in this recipe! To make soft fresh bread crumbs, tear whole-wheat sandwich bread into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until fine (or finely chop with a chef's knife). Fresh bread crumbs freeze well in a resealable freezer baf for up to 3 months.

Vegan variation: Substitute olive oil for the butter in the stuffing and omit the egg and cheese from the vegetarian portion of the stuffing. Season the vegan stuffing with nutritional yeast instead of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.