Bacon and cheese stuffed chicken – banting recipe

If you’re frantically in search of more #banting recipe ideas, then you’ve come to the right place.

And if you have no idea what I’m talking about it, ‘banting’ is, in a nutshell, following a diet of eating meals that are basically Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) and avoiding sugar and processed food.

Read more about the whole story and what you should and shouldn’t be eating.

With any healthy eating plan, chicken breasts are always a great place to start. They’re high in protein and a very obliging blank canvas for so many other flavours. Here, paired with the salty goats cheese and crispy bacon (oh yes!),  it’s a pretty amazing and simple to make dish.

Crunchy lemony green beans tossed with roasted almonds rounds everything off rather nicely and if you don’t like goats cheese, cubes of brie or spoonfuls of ricotta would also work brilliantly.

Chicken stuffed with goats cheese and bacon with lemony green beans and toasted almonds
Serves 2 | Preparation time 5 minutes | Cooking time 15 minutes

Ingredients
75g cubed bacon
2 chicken breasts (with or without skin is up to you)
75g goats cheese, at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp olive oil
100g green beans, trimmed on both ends
Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
Small handful almonds (raw or roasted), roughly chopped

Method
1. Fry the bacon until lightly golden, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside to drain on some kitchen paper.

2. Season the chicken breasts with a little salt and black pepper on both sides and then slice them open down the middle of one side, leaving the other side still attached, and flip open like a book.

3. Mix together the bacon and goats cheese with a fork, adding in a little extra black pepper but no salt, the goats cheese is salty enough.

4. Fill each breast with the filling, then close gently. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat and fry the chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until a golden crust has formed and the meat has cooked through. Remove from the heat and set aside to rest.

5. Meanwhile, cook the green beans in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, remove and refresh under cool water so that they keep their bright green colour. Drizzle with a little lemon juice, add the lemon zest and almonds and serve immediately with the chicken.

Sarah Graham is author of ‘Bitten’ and blogs with us on Food24.  Follow her on twitter @foodieliveshere.