Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken Thighs

So for anyone who follows me on the ol' Pinterest, you may have noticed I have a board titled "Inspiration Recipes." Honestly I don't use Pinterest very much, but in looking for better ways to eat healthy, I've been finding good recipes that I feel like I can adjust (either a little or a lot) and make it better for my taste. This is one of those recipes. I stuck pretty close to what the original cook did, with only a few minor adjustments. Here's what you need:

• 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 8 slices of prosciutto
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed and chopped finely
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• salt and pepper

The great thing about boneless skinless thighs is you cut out a lot of fat from the skin, but the thigh is naturally a little more fatty than other parts. Why is that a good thing? Because the thigh meat is much more forgiving when cooking, i.e., it stays juicy at higher temps than chicken breast does. Also, boneless thighs are perfect for wrapping around stuff because there's already a natural cavity where the bone was. Check it:

The first thing you do is lay out your chicken thigh and sprinkle the underside of it with salt and pepper, and a little of your chopped garlic and lemon zest. Roll that up on its own, then roll a piece of prosciutto around it and put a little rosemary on the top of each piece, like so:

If you checked out my board on Pinterest, you'll see the original recipe had full sprigs of rosemary in the center of the chicken. While it looks cool, it's more designed to infuse the chicken with a mild rosemary flavor and the rosemary would be discarded afterward. Even though mine isn't as pretty, I wanted the rosemary to come through more, so I put it on the outside of the prosciutto, chopped up, to be eaten. But honestly, next time I do this I'm gonna put it chopped up on the outside of the chicken, then wrap it in prosciutto so the rosemary is between the two. It was still good, but I think that would make it better.

Another thing the original did was cook on the stove top in a grill pan. That's way more hassle than I want to deal with, plus called for additional oil, so I baked mine in the oven at 450 for about 15-20 minutes (cooking time will vary depending on how big the thigh pieces are). Cooking at such a high temp allowed me to get a nice crispy prosciutto on the outside without overcooking the chicken. Take out when your chicken show an internal temp of about 163 and let rest for 10 minutes before eating. But because you're using thighs, they'll stay juicy up to 170 or even 175. Finished product:

This was a really enjoyable way to eat chicken thighs. Each thigh was small enough to where we each ate 2, but didn't end up feeling bloated afterward. Pair it with a light salad of some sort (we ate this with the quinoa from Wednesday) and you've got yourself a rockin', yet satisfying meal.

What would you do differently? Would you use an herb other than rosemary? Use this is a springboard to create your own and be sure to come back and share the deets. Have a great weekend, e'rbody!