Instructions: Soften tomatoes in 3/4 cup hot water. Clean and pound chicken to even thickness. Trim chicken into a rectangle where necessary, transferring the trim pieces to a small sauce pan. Set up plates for coating chicken: flour, cream, crumbs. Drain the tomatoes, catching the liquid in the small sauce pan holding the chicken. Cut tomatoes into strips.

Sprinkle a fillet with salt and pepper. Place a portion of the cheese spread on one side; top with a portion of tomato strips. Fold over and press gently to spread the filling while encasing it.

Dust both sides with flour, dip in the half-and-half. Coat well with panko. Repeat for the other fillets.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Heat an oven-proof skillet over medium high; heat the oil, add the butter to the oil and swirl to mix and coat without burning the butter. Saute the chicken until golden brown on one side

(about 4 mins). Turn. Place skillet in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

MEANWHILE, put pasta pot with water on to boil. Add thyme stems and the noodles to the water. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat slightly and cook (10 mins). Remove thyme stems. Drain. Keep warm.

SAUCE: Add 1/4 cup wine to the sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Season with garlic salt, pepper and soup-base. Allow broth to simmer and bubble to reduce the liquid while the chicken is baking. When broth coats the spoon, reduce heat to lowest; stir in saffron and thyme leaves. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.

Steam the green beans; place a nonstick sauce pan over medium high heat.

Spray the pan with olive oil and saute the nuts. Add the beans and the dried fruit. Season with a pinch of salt, pepper, and sugar.

To plate: place noodles on one side of each plate, top with a chicken fillet. Place beans along side. Spoon sauce over noodles.

TO PLATE: Place sauce on plate; serve the chicken on top; garnish with a dab of pesto and scallions.

Description: "Thyme infused noodles and Green Beans with Nuts and Figs"

NOTES : Menu for a special occasion home-cooked meal.

Whipped cream cheese spreads made by Rondele and Aloutte are available in a variety of flavors. We chose garden vegetable for this Chicken Kiev knock-off. Instead of the traditional egg-wash, the fillets were dipped in the newly available Fat Free Half and Half (from Land OLakes). The trimmings from the chicken breasts were combined with the water used to soften the tomatoes to make a light wine sauce. Packages of dried fruit make it easy to add fruit to a dish. We chose Calimyrna figs to add muskiness to green beans with almonds. Herb infused noodles completed the meal.

Its been a long time since we had cheese with meat, so this was Cacoon-freedom. Served with thyme-infused egg free noodles and green beans with nuts and figs.

The recipe looks complicated because there are three recipes in one.

I used fat-free half and half instead of egg wash to hold the panko. will do that again. -pat

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