20 Below: Basil, Ginger & Garlic Stuffed Chicken

Upon request (and somewhat of a challenge) from one of my lovely readers, I'm going to start a series of "20 Below" posts where I will highlight an entire meal for 4 people that costs less than $20 ($5.00 per person). I hope all of you penny pinchers enjoy these posts--and if anyone else has a particular blog topic request, please let me know!

Boneless chicken breasts are simple and quick to cook up, but there are merits to making chicken on the bone (in addition to it being quite a bit cheaper), like all of the tasty bits you can stuff under the skin (although you can also pound boneless chicken breasts thin, fill them with goodies, roll them up and then bake them).

You can stuff chicken with pretty much anything; here I use basil, ginger & garlic, but you could do:

• Rice cooked with onions, mushrooms & grated carrots
• Rosemary & whole garlic cloves
• Lemon slices & black peppercorns
• Mustard seed, garam masala and onion slices

Just to name a few :)

Basil, Ginger & Garlic Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients:

16 large basil leaves
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
4 chicken quarters, skin on
salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Stuff 1/4 of basil, garlic and ginger under the skin of each chicken quarter.
2. Place chicken in baking pan and sprinkle with salt & pepper.
3. Bake covered at 350 degrees 35-40 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

The cost:
basil: 1.99
ginger: 1.39
chicken: 7.42

Grand total: $10.80; serves 4

Add roasted brussel sprouts ($2.49) & rice (1.99)

Meal grand total: $15.28

Price per person: $3.82