deconstructed stuffed chicken with spinach, goat cheese and pinenuts

click image to zoom in.
i added a little too much sauce, so you can't see the chicken that good - but i promise it's there!

meagan's mom, denise, sent me a stuffed chicken recipe the other day. i decided to improvise a little and take all the ingredients that were used to stuff the chicken and make it in a sauce to top the chicken. i served it with orzo with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. i kept the portions small; it served as the perfect light dinner for two. everything was delicious.

ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 cup soft goat cheese
3 tablespoons panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup uncooked orzo
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, packed in oil
1 tablespoon oil from sun-dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons low sodium chicken stock
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 small garlic clove, minced
evoo
s&p

directions for chicken:
take about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of goat cheese, roll it into a ball and flatten into a patty. repeat and make a second patty. coat in evoo and roll in panko bread crumbs. put in fridge for about 5 to 10 minutes. meanwhile dredge chicken in flour. heat skillet with evoo over medium high heat. fry chicken about 4 minutes per side until golden brown. remove from pan and set aside. add cream to pan, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken. add half of frozen thawed spinach, s&p and pine nuts. let sauce reduce by half. meanwhile, heat a small skillet with evoo. fry goat cheese patties about 2 minutes per side until golden brown. to serve, top chicken with pan sauce and add goat cheese on top of that.

directions for orzo:
cook the orzo according to package directions. set aside in strainer. in a food processor, mix together tomatoes, broth, vinegar, garlic, sun-dried tomato oil and s&p until smooth. add half of spinach to orzo and mix with vinaigrette. add more s&p if needed and serve warmed or chilled.