[Sponsor Note: Joe Pichey of GoBlueBBQ makes and writes these, and we can supply him with the stuff to do so thanks to…

Wait, hold up, we’ve got a name change folks:

is now

So MGoBlog’s favorite hummus has changed its name to Lantana, as it turns out “Eat Well Embrace Life” was a bit of a mouthful. An outrageously delicious one, true, but still that’s a lot of words. Also the green and white logo had to go.

So: Lantana—pronounced like “Santana”—The flavors remain the same, which is to say amazing—www.lantanafoods.com. Except if you shop at the Kroger on Orchard Lake they’re all out of the Carrot Siracha right now because I bought them out again for Slider Night tonight. Stop looking at me like that; hummus sliders are a thing and if you don’t believe me you’re probably eating the wrong humus]

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We can’t let this trip to Italy go by without firing up the grill and tossing back a few glasses of high quality boxed wine, right? I couldn’t, because I’m classy like that.  It’s been awhile since we’ve stuffed meats and cheeses inside other meats and cheeses and dipped other meats and cheeses in some tasty hummus.  As a matter of fact, it’s been so long that the name has changed. Eat Well Embrace Life Hummus is now Lantana Hummus. Matt asked that we put together something for the trip to Italy in conjunction with the new name.  I can never pass up the opportunity to do some live fire cooking, so here it it. This one can be done in the oven just as easy as the grill as we are cooking in a cast iron pan.

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breasts
• Sun Dried Tomatoes
• Mozzarella and Feta Cheese
• Spinach
• Salt and Pepper
• Basil
• Cherry Tomatoes

APPETIZER:

• Helloumi Cheese - (Whole Foods, Central Market or specialty market)
• LANTANA White Bean Hummus

[After the JUMP: Hannibal and Saban will be equally furious]

DIRECTIONS:

Fire up the grill to about 350-375 degrees and set up for direct grilling. As the grill/oven is heating up, take a sharp knife and butterfly the Chicken Breasts. Do not completely cut them in half. We are basically making a pocket in the middle for the chicken breasts to hold the spinach, cheese and tomatoes.  Once you have a pocket, start stuffing’. Feel free to OVERSTUFF them as I did.

Add a few toothpicks to help keep things together.  Season with your favorite Italian seasoning or just go with salt and pepper.

Once the breasts are stuffed and the the grill is hot, we can start our appetizer. Take the Halloumi grilling cheese and toss it on a well oiled grate.

After about 5 minute, flip and char other side. Don’t worry, this will not fall apart over the hot coals.  Make sure you oil that grate.

After another 5 minutes, remove from heat and slice into chunks. Start dipping into the White Bean Hummus.  This stuff is so addicting. My guests devoured it before I could get any really good pics.

Now it’s time to add the chicken.  Heat a cast iron pan over direct heat for about 5 minutes and add enough oil to coat the pan evenly. 

Add your stuffed chicken breast to a hot pan and let sit for 3-4 minutes. We want to get a good sear on each side.

After 4 minutes, if the pan is super hot, we should have a nice sear on the one side. Flip and do the same to the other side.

The goodness on the inside will start to OOZE.  Great word that “OOZE”.

After about 10 minutes total, you should be reaching 150 degrees internal. Add a few cherry tomatoes if you have them and some basil.  The juices from the chicken and the oil will start to form a little sauce. Feel free to add a little butter if you’d like, but it’s not mandatory.

Once the chicken reaches 160-165 degrees internal, remove from the heat. The meat temp will continue to rise a little, so don’t worry that it didn’t hit 165 while on the grill. 

Some of the cheese OOZED out on the cast iron and formed that charred cheesy burnt thing that we all love.  Sooooo good.  The basil and tomato combo can’t be beat along with that grilled cheese and Lantana White Bean Hummus appetizer. This really is a nice summertime meal that won’t put you into a MEAT COMA for the afternoon. Now, where is my $9.00 box o wine?

GO BLUE!!!!!