Jalapeno Popper Chicken

This is the perfect time of year: Tending to our garden and containers has yielded results, and we're harvesting herbs and some vegetables by the fistfuls.

But that presents a problem: Making sure the food that is harvested is used. In this case, that means our jalapenos. And what better use for jalapenos than as jalapeno poppers?

With some frozen chicken breasts ready for plucking, we chose to make a jalapeno popper filling and stuff that inside the poultry.

That brought a spicy filling -- it was boosted by our canned pickled jalapenos -- that nestled perfectly inside that juicy chicken breast. The cream cheese-based filling provided a perfect texture complement.

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

6 servings

1 cup light cream cheese

1 small to medium jalapeno, minced

1 teaspoon pickled jalapeno, minced

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1/2 cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese

4 small to medium chicken breasts

2 to 2 1/2 cups corn flakes, crushed

2 eggs

milk

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a cookie sheet or other pan for the chicken.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, jalapeno, pickled jalapeno, garlic powder, salt, pepper and cheddar.

3. Butterfly the chicken breasts and pound them out until the breast is even in thickness.

4. Stuff 2 to 3 tablespoons into each chicken breast and seal it with toothpicks.

5. Dip each chicken breast first in the egg solution (combined with a bit of milk if you prefer) and then into the corn flakes. Make sure each chicken breast is coated well in each.

6. Set corn flake-covered chicken breasts on a baking pan and bake for 20 minutes.

How do you like to use jalapenos?