Pineapple Salsa Chicken Breasts with Goat Cheese

I’m all about easy meals these days. While I love cooking and baking, it can be hard to get motivated to spend lots of time in the kitchen after work and especially after working out when I just.want.food.now. This came together with a random hodgepodge of stuff I had in my fridge; I was hesitant about the goat cheese and pineapple salsa combo and now I have no clue why. They’re pretty much soul mates.

This took just a few minutes of hands-on time. I tossed it in the oven, showered and it was ready when I got out.

• 1 lb chicken breasts
• 3-4 tablespoons chevre goat cheese
• 1/4 cup pineapple salsa (I used Trader Joe’s)
• salt & pepper
• coconut oil

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.
2. Rinse and dry the chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper. Be liberal folks!
3. Heat coconut oil (I dunno…maybe a teaspoon?) in an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Pan-sear your chicken breasts for 3-4 minutes on each side until a nice golden sear starts happening. I probably should have seared mine a little longer.

5. Divide the goat cheese between the two chicken breasts and then top evenly with the salsa. Cover and place in oven. I have a sauté pan with a lid, but you could use foil too. If you have a rubber handle on your pan, be sure to wrap that in foil!

6. Bake for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165. And if you don’t have a meat thermometer, get one stat. (This is the one I have.) They make cooking so much easier, helping you to avoid over or undercooking your meat.

7. There should be a little bit of sauce in the pan that developed while the chicken baked in the oven. Spoon that over the top before serving – it has SO much flavor!

I served it with a side of sautéed asparagus, and I think a sweet potato would have been a nice addition too.

Let me know if you try it! I also want to try it with the Trader Joe’s smoky peach salsa!