Easy Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu

Like....really easy.  

Like...3 ingredients plus some olive oil easy.  

Like...it's the holidays and it's all about 3 ingredient dinners plus a salad or dinner simply just doesn't happen, ya know?  

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.  And also like I never want to see another meatball in my life.  

But this dinner!  It's amazing, really quick, has all the same ham/swiss/chicken flavors that we know and love about Cordon Bleu, BUT  nothing is fried because ain't nobody got time or patience or energy or calories for that.  Pan-sear that ish.  

The ingredients are simple.  Some kind of really thin ham or prosciutto, some kind of holey cheese like Jarlsberg, chicken breasts.  Boom.  Done.  

All we do is wrap the chicken, pound the chicken, sear the chicken, and we have dinner.  I love simple sides with this - brown rice and a roasted green veg like broccoli that can be working at the same time as the chicken, and we can end up with dinner in 30.  First, dice up the cheese.  You can also use slices of cheese and just fold them in half to tuck under the ham.  No worries.  

Put the chicken on a big piece of plastic wrap.  

Then, mound half the cheese on each piece of chicken.  

Using two hands and all the patience you can muster, gently wrap the ham around the cheese and chicken.  Gently being the operative word.  

Now, toss another piece of plastic wrap around the wrapped chicken.  

Use a mallet or big skillet to pound the chicken a few times.  We aren't overly concerned about the chicken being totally even, just mainly trying to mash the chicken, cheese, and ham together.  

When the chicken is all ready, heat a skillet to medium heat with some oil.  You can wrap the chicken way in advance if you'd like too!  When the skillet is hot, place the chicken in the pan with the ham seam-side down.  The ham will kind of cook together and make a nice seal.  

Now, we just let the chicken cook through!  5-8 minutes on each side, depending on how thick your chicken is.  We want the ham to sizzle but not get too brown while the chicken cooks, so turn the heat up or down if you need to.  When you flip the chicken you'll start to notice some gooey and crispy cheese bits, which are basically heaven.  

When the chicken is cooked through, we've got dinner!  Like I said, since the chicken is so flavorful you can go really simple with the side dishes, or even skip the carb if you're into that kind of thing.  I there are any juices left in the chicken pan PLEASE drizzle them over your plate - they taste like ham and cheese which is very sexy.  

Make this for a quick winter holiday craziness dinner.  You won't regret it!