Gruyere Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Spinach

Some things are just meant to go together. Spaghetti and meatballs, buffalo wings and blue cheese, pizza and beer. One of my favorite combinations is Gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, and spinach. Those ingredients inspired tonight's dinner, which is my own creation.

Ingredients

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; trimmed and pounded out a bit
• 2 onions, sliced
• Salt and pepper
• Pinch of thyme
• Pinch of sugar
• Paprika
• Approx 3 tbsp flour
• Olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• Approx 1/3 c white wine
• 12 slices Gruyere cheese
• Fresh spinach

Directions

• Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat
• Add onions, pinch each of salt, pepper, sugar, and thyme. Let cook, stirring often, for approximately 30 minutes until the onions are brown and caramelized. Remove from pan.
• Add another tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to pan
• Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and paprika. Cut a small pocket in the side to stuff them with cheese later. Dredge in flour, shake off excess.
• Place chicken in the pan; cook approximately 4 minutes on each side. As my chicken was cooking, my pan was turning very brown, but I also thought that there was a lot of flavor in those brown bits so I deglazed the pan with white wine. Put a slice of cheese in each pocket. Continue to baste chicken with the white wine in the pan.
• When the chicken is done, top each piece with 3 slices Gruyere cheese.
• Place under the broiler in your oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
• Top each chicken breast with some of the caramelized onions, and place under the broiler for another 2 minutes.

• Serve over sauteed spinach (saute spinach in olive oil with salt and pepper for 3-4 minutes, until just wilted).

I love these flavors together! I don't know what it is, but they just go together, like it was meant to be.