Who says you can't have Thanksgiving in March?

When I read this recipe for Wild Rice and Cranberry Stuffed Chicken Breasts from The Biggest Loser Resort, it reminded me of Thanksgiving. Who said you can’t put a little fall twist on a dish for the spring? We made a couple slight modifications and have two variations of the chicken so you can see which one is more interesting or easier for you to handle and which of the slight twists will work best for you! This recipe had very few ingredients and they were simple ones, which we always appreciate!

Begin by cooking the rice because it should cool a bit before handling and stuffing into the chicken. The first modification was the addition of finely chopped and sautéed mushrooms and onions to my stuffing so these will need to be chopped first, and then sautéed in a bit of olive oil. Next, mix all of your stuffing ingredients which is the cooked cup of rice, the dried cranberries (I used Craisins), chopped almonds, sage, and, if you would like, the sautéed mushrooms and onions. Once it is mixed pre-heat your oven.

Stuffing

Next, prepare your chicken for stuffing. I butterflied my first two breasts like the recipe called for but then wanted to get a little crazy so I pounded out the next two so they were very flat and wide. I then placed the two butterflied breasts in the baking pan/tray which was covered with a little olive oil and stuffed those with my mixture.

Butterfly the chicken

I put a thin layer of the stuffing on the flattened breasts and rolled them up like a pinwheel. I secured all the breasts with a toothpick and then topped with salt and pepper.

Roll into a pinwheel

Then into the oven for about 30 minutes…

Inside the chicken

I love cranberry sauce! So…while these were cooking I had the idea to make some cranberry sauce to top my chicken. Combine about 8 ounces of frozen cranberries, 1 small orange zested and juiced, ½ cup of sugar (I used brown sugar but regular or raw is fine too), and 1 tsp of cinnamon in a pot.

Cranberry sauce

Cover and cook until the cranberries have “exploded” and you have a homemade sauce…about 15-20 minutes. You can add chicken or veggie stock to this to thin out your sauce. I added about a ¼ cup of chicken stock for the last 2 minutes for easier spreading. Jay loved the sauce, but I thought it was a little tart for my tastes, and for this otherwise subtle dish. All in all, you have a very delectable, healthy dish! We served this up with some lightly olive-oiled and buttered mixed vegetables. Ta-da!