Sous vide attempt #2: Spinach and cheese-stuffed chicken roulades
- Catherine Mello
- Jun 25, 2017
- 2 min read
My second sous vide dish was a resounding success.
To make the roulades (4 generous servings)
- 2 chicken breasts (about 16 oz raw)
- 8 oz fresh baby spinach
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed, or 1/2 t garlic powder
- 1/2 c fat free/1% cottage cheese, excess liquid removed
- 2 oz fat free mozzarella (or more cottage cheese)
- 2 T (10 g) parmesan, fine microplane-grated
- 1 egg white (3 T liquid egg whites)
- tiny smidgen of grated nutmeg, crumbled thyme
I tried to drain the cottage cheese in a cheesecloth for a few hours but not much came out. Perhaps because it was a previously opened container, it had already lost its whey somewhat (see what I did there?)
Preheat the sous-vide bath to 149F.
Wilt the spinach in a nonstick pan with a bit of water or stock, salt, pepper, and garlic powder (if using). Set in a fine mesh colander to cool and drain, then squeeze in small handfuls. Then squeeze some more. (Those spinach juices are great in something like a grain or cauliflower pilaf-style preparation, by the way.)
When the spinach is cool, loosen it up or chop it up so it will more readily accept the cheeses, nutmeg/thyme, and egg whites (and fresh pressed garlic, if using instead of powder). Mix it all this together.
Trim the chicken breast and lay each on a good-sized sheet of plastic film. Flatten the chicken breasts into 1/4" to 1/2" thick, salt and pepper on both sides.
Divide the spinach stuffing and layer it over the chicken breasts, spreading it close to the edges. Roll tightly into logs with the film. Spin then like they're sausage in casing and tie knots into the film on each end. Vacuum seal into a bag, with space between the two logs.
Cook for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. These don't really need to rest.
Each serving (makes 4): 195 calories
(Earlier in the day, I cooked the asparagus at 183 for 10 minutes or so with a hint of light butter and salt. I shocked this in a water bath and dropped it in with the chicken to warm up some 15-20 minutes before serving dinner.)
Hers: 361
1 serving chicken roulade (195)
9 oz asparagus (51)
1 teaspoon light butter (13)
1 serving cauliflower pilaf (66)
113 g raw tomato (16)
Knorr Hollandaise sauce, prepared with only water (20)
The Hollandaise didn't contribute much, but I had those packets for a while and never seemed to make poached asparagus to justify their use.
The cauliflower pilaf is just some onions and garlic sauteed in some oil/butter, cauliflower added with some herbs and a trivial amount of broth. Here, I flavored it with a sprinkle of salt-free veggie broth powder (Bryanna Clark Grogan) and fresh parsley.
His: 417 In all respects identical, but with an easy orzo pilaf (4 servings: 1/4 c minced onions, 1/2 T butter, 4 oz orzo, 2 cups chicken broth, usually dried chives and parsley).