Grilled Double Cherry Chicken Roll Ups

The state of Michigan is known for cherries.  I know this because my husband is from Michigan and we lived up there for 2 years.  Actually 2 years, 6 months, 5 days, 6 hours, and 18 minutes.  I'm totally kidding.  I did love the summers there, however, the winters were not my favorite.  Most of all I loved the wonderful friends I made up there.  Whenever I make something with cherries in it, I think of them.  This grilled chicken is wonderful.  My husband even said he wasn't sure how much he would like it and ended up loving it.  The Cherry-Orange sauce is so good (recipe below).  A really nice change from the norm.  It would be great as a topper on vanilla ice cream for dessert too.  It has been so hot I have been taking advantage of the grill.  It keep the house a little cooler at least!

Ingredients:

1/2 ( 8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup dried cherries

3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 tablespoon packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

 Directions:

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, dried cherries, and green onions; set aside.

Place each chicken breast pieces in a large Ziploc bag or between two pieces of plastic wrap.  Using the flat side of a meat mallet, pound each chicken breast lightly into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.  spread filling evenly over breast halves to within 1/2 inch of the edges.  Fold in the sides and roll up.  Secure with wooden toothpicks.

For the rub, in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, and pepper.  Sprinkle mixture over chicken roll-ups.

Preheat grill to medium heat.  Grill over indirect heat for 20- 25 minutes.  Serve with sauce.

Cherry-Orange Sauce

Zest an orange till you have 1 teaspoon orange zest; set aside.  Peel and section an orange over a bowl to catch the juices.  In a small saucepan, combine orange juice and 1/2 cup cherry preserves.  Cook and stir over medium heat until preserves are melted.  Remove from heat.  Coarsely chop orange sections.  Stir orange sections and the 1 teaspoon orange zest into the preserves mixture. Serve with chicken.

Enjoy!

Print this post