With a toddler in toe, and a life that only gets busier as time passes, scheduling date nights with child care, and celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, become not only cumbersome but expensive. As someone who works and mothers full time, a romantic night out with the spouse feels unrealistic.

At times like these, my love for cooking at home comes in handy, but shopping for a fancy romantic dinner, even for two, can have you paying through your nose. Add an expensive cut of meat or some specialty ingredient off of a cookbook, and your budget hits the roof.   

But not with the menu I’m about to share. For this particular meal for two, all you need is:

– A large russet potato

– Two chicken breasts

– A cup of rice

Combined with some optional pantry staples like:

– Garlic

– Eggs

– Cheese

– Butter/olive oil

– Breadcrumbs/panko

– Whole milk/heavy cream

– Fresh or dried herbs

– Salt and pepper

… and what ever is leftover in your fridge. With this recipe you can easily create a little bit of weekday or weekend magic on a plate, and on a training physician’s pay. Here’s the recipe for:

Stuffed Chicken Breast with Twice Baked Potato and Peppery Rice drizzled with Garlic Cream

To prep, scrub the russet potato under tap water and dry really well. Place in the center of a pre-heated 400 degree oven and bake for 60 minutes. At the 30-minute mark, carefully remove from the oven. Gently pierce a bunch of holes in the hot spud with a fork or toothpick, then place back on the rack and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes or until fork tender.

In the meanwhile, flatten out two room-temperature chicken breasts, one by one, inside a large ziplock bag or two pieces of cling film till flat and about half an inch thick. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

For the stuffing, sauté whatever vegetables and herbs you have in the pantry/fridge in a pan with a little bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of any seasoning of your choice. You should at least make four tablespoons of stuffing in the end. A few options that go really well together are:

– Assorted bell peppers and onions with a dash of lemon and herb or Italian

seasoning

– Sautéed Brussels sprouts and red onion with feta and garlic salt

– Bacon and cream cheese with some parsley, scallions or chives

– Spinach, mushroom and red onions seasoned with red pepper flakes and

crushed garlic

The stuffing I was able to put together is the one with spinach, mushrooms and red onion. Once ready, place two tablespoon-fulls of the prepared stuffing in each flattened chicken breast. Roll tightly securing with toothpicks as you go, to make sure the stuffing doesn’t spill out as it bakes.

Roll both prepared and seasoned stuffed chicken breasts in a beaten egg and then coat with whatever kind of breadcrumbs you have at hand. You can also replace the breadcrumbs with crushed cornflakes or panko. If you are out of both eggs and breadcrumbs, you can wrap the chicken in bacon or just rub with olive oil and season with your favorite seasoning. Once ready, place on a baking dish and set aside.

Now for the rice. Wash any kind of rice you have lying in the pantry and place in a medium saucepan. I use basmati or long-grain brown rice. Cover the pan with water, add two cloves of garlic, enough salt for the water to taste like seawater and a generous pinch of pepper. Boil like pasta over medium-high heat till the rice is just tender but not at all mushy. Drain and set aside. For the garlic cream, mash the two cloves of garlic you used to perfume the rice in a small bowl. Add 2 tablespoon of heavy cream or whole milk and mix well. Season with a tiny bit of salt.

In the meanwhile, take out the potato and set aside to cool. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees and place the chicken breasts in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slice in half lengthwise. Scoop out the potato flesh in a bowl leaving enough flesh in the shell to hold its shape. Now mash the potato flesh with whatever dairy you have in stock. Melted butter, a dash of milk or cream or you can add some cream cheese or mascarpone to moisten the mashed potatoes. Then add whatever herbs or spices you have available such as paprika, crushed pepper, red pepper flakes, scallions, parsley, chives etc. I usually add scallions, parsley, paprika and salt. Once the mixture is ready, oil and season the russet potato shells and place on a baking tray. Distribute the filling between the two halves and cover with whatever cheese you have available. Cheddar and parmesan work the best. You can also replace the cheese with breadcrumbs for a crunchy topping.

Half way through cooking the chicken, put the potatoes in the oven. They’ll both be ready together in 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, reheat the rice over low heat with a knob of butter or a drizzle of olive oil. Dish everything out on the nicest plates you’ve got and just before serving, drizzle the rice with the garlic cream. Light a few candles and enjoy.

Happy Cooking!