I’m not saying I’m going Paleo. I’m not even saying I know what Paleo is. But I am saying that I’ve known for a long time that for many of us, particularly me, carbs = unsightly bulges that grow and grow.
This does not often deter me because tortellini. Pizza crust. Homemade crusty bread and crackers with cheese. But I am always game to try, and even if I improve just a little, that’s well, a little. Which is better than none.

So I am trying, several nights a week, to cut the carby whiteness from our dinner plates. This means I have to work extra hard on the main course because if I am going to serve a meal to my Meat and Potatoes family sans potatoes, I better be distracting them with a pretty shiny object.

For Sunday dinner, I needed to use some chicken that my 5-year-old thawed for me by “helping” to unload the groceries and leaving one bag on the basement floor for a couple of hours before I discovered it. And I’ve said many times that I think chicken breasts are the most boring of the meats, but they do serve a purpose in the lean meat/inexpensive categories, so I buy them now and then and try to doctor them up as best I can.

For this meal, I needed to use up some jalapenos and other odds and ends in my refrigerator, which just happened to include a little cheese and bacon. Which just happen to be the main ingredients in jalapeno poppers, which everyone loves. Except our housemate and our kids.
So let me rephrase. Jalapeno poppers, which Mr. Meat and Potatoes and I love — why not make the popper a chicken popper and get everything we love and some lean protein to boot? Is that not sparkly enough to distract from the lack of taters on the plate? I think so.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2014/sep/11/278798/

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

5 or 6 large chicken breasts
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup mayo
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup cream cheese
1 teaspoon cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
4 jalapenos
8 or so strips of bacon
Salt and pepper

Pound thin the chicken breasts and season on both sides with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Fry your bacon. Real bacon bits in the bag work too, but this is better.

In a mixing bowl, combine sour cream, mayo, cheddar cheese and cream cheese (which you may have to soften in the microwave). Add in garlic, a pinch of salt and cumin.

Clean your jalapenos (wear gloves!) and slice them into flat slivers. I had to cut mine into about 8 pieces each to achieve flatness.

On top of each piece of chicken, lay several strips of jalapeno horizontally. Remember, you’re going to need to roll this up.

Then smear with a tablespoon or two of the cheese mixture and top with some pieces of bacon. Roll up the chicken and secure with a toothpick or two. It would be good to roll this in panko or crushed crackers, which I didn’t think of until after we ate.

Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

I served with an ear of fresh sweet corn, fruit, and a green salad. I know corn is pretty carby, but hey, it’s not a pile of potatoes and we have to start somewhere, right?

No one complained about the lack of white starch on the plate. I got one raised eyebrow, but then he saw the oozy gooey chicken and quickly got over it.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2014/sep/11/278798/