Last week we celebrated spring Russian style with the traditional recipe from Shrovetide, Blini. Then, yesterday we woke up and wondered if we weren’t in Russia – snow covering the ground in April?! It somehow seemed fitting to be cooking up yet another dish from the country that’s home to Siberia. This time we chose a healthy version of a traditional Russian dish – Chicken Kiev.
We began by mixing melted butter with freshly chopped dill, garlic, salt and pepper. We then refrigerated the mix for an hour. In the meantime, the kids got to use a meat mallet again (yes, we finally bought a real one!) to pound the chicken breasts to a quarter of an inch thickness. 
They take their pounding very seriously! 
Once the chicken was the right thickness, we spread 1-1/2 teaspoons of the butter mixture over the top of the narrow end of the chicken, then rolled it toward the wider end and secured it with toothpicks. 
Next dad separated the egg whites and mixed them with water and butter in a small bowl. The whole wheat bread crumbs were added to another bowl. Then dad soaked each chicken roll in the egg mix and coated it in the bread crumbs under the watchful eye of Miss A. 
The chicken was then placed in a greased baking dish and refrigerated for another hour. Once chilled we baked the Kiev at 425F for 30 minutes. 
We served our Kiev with homemade dinner rolls and an organic harvest rice blend with apples, pears, shaved almonds and shallots. 
While this isn’t as creamy as traditional Chicken Kiev (or as fried), it was a tasty take on chicken for a weeknight meal – and one that didn’t pile on the calories. Dad, Mr. N and I gave it 2 spoons. Miss A actually enjoyed it the most (either that or she was just hungry) and gave it 3 spoons. She even liked it so much, she blogged about it. 😉 
As for the leftovers, they reheated well and if you’re pressed for time, this is a meal that can be prepared a day ahead of time. Overall, this was a good and healthy take on chicken and a recipe that we had never before tackled. If we make this again, and it’s a distinct possibility, I might consider incorporating some more spices – it’s always fun to play around with new blends. спокойной ночи (Goodnight in Russian.)
Print this recipe: Healthy Chicken Kiev
Eat, Play, Love 
nice)))) it’s VERU yummy but so hard to cook for me))) even for me — I’m russian)))) and Kiev it’s city in Ukraina — not Russia, but recipe was made in USSR (I guess).
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Thank you so much for the clarification. I’ll make sure to share this with the kids as well. We very much appreciate you visiting and commenting. It’s nice to hear we’re not too far off the authentic recipes. 🙂
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Mmm, it’s been years since I’ve had a chicken kiev – another thing I miss out on after moving to France, as you could buy them very easily in most stores in England. I don’t have any children to set to work on flattening the chicken alas, but this is definitely something I’m going to try!
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When we get around to England or France as our cooking adventure destination, I know who I’m going to come to for ideas! I’m still thinking about garlic bread today. 😉 This Kiev recipe is the “healthy” version, you can certainly play with the amounts of butter and types of spices used as well.
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Tasty recipe. Very cute kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thank you Eftychia! Have a great day. 🙂
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It looks yummy 🙂 and pounding chicken is always fun 😉 LOL
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The second the kids hear that pounding meat is involved, they come running. Something about taking a hammer/mallet to food…Ha! 🙂 Have a good one!
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I discovered something today, Mr. N looks like his dad.. and I know where he gets the faces from lol. Can’t leave Miss A out, she is adorable like her mom. But I love this Chicken Kiev, it really looks delicious. I will definitely have to save this recipe for a later date. Great meal
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LOL! I hadn’t quite caught that – but Mr. N and his dad are making very similar expressions in these photos. It’s funny when we catch flashes of ourselves in them. It’s an incredible thing to watch these little guys grow and develop their own little personalities. Ceases to amaze me. 🙂 Have a great day!
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I love how you put those kids to work. I mean get them involved. It was 91 degrees here yesterday and we roasted a ham we could’ve used snow, but I digress. I like this recipe, chicken is always so tender cooked this way. I’m not sure I’ve ever done a kiev. That rice sounds really good too.
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Don’t let the kids fool you – we completely work for them. 😉 I would love 91 degrees!!!! 91 degrees combined with one of those refreshing margaritas you posted a week or so ago would be ideal right about now. Really though I’d just be happy with blue sky!
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It looks great and a lot of fun for the whole family preparing it, too! Thanks for sharing.
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The mallet is always a hit with the kids. 🙂
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Wonderful dinner indeed! I used to make a chicken Kiev of sorts that was also baked instead of fried, but I don’t remember where I got the recipe from. It’s been many, many years! So, I’ m glad to see your post, I know hubby will love your recipe!
now, if I lived a little closer, could I hire some of your helpers? 🙂
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I’m sure they’d be happy to help you. They love showing off their cooking skills for anyone and everyone. 😉 Glad that we helped to recall an old favorite. It’s funny how as we cook more and more new dishes, some of the old dishes get pushed to the back of the mind. Life is just too short for all of the deliciousness out there!
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This whole meal sounds delicious. I love anything with dill in it. I like how you added fruit and nuts to the pilaf and the adaptations to make the recipe healthier. We need to get our daughter a computer so she can start blogging early too 🙂 Very cute!
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The pilaf is one of my favorite sides. I usually cook either pears or apples (we did both last night) in a little bit of white cooking wine and chicken broth with corriander, rosemary, the shaved almonds and shallots. I add it to the rice after it’s cooked. I’ve also added craisins to it as well which is really good. 🙂
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I never thought to add fruit to my rice but that sounds delicious!
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