Healthy Grilled Chicken Pesto with Fettuccine

I know we've all been there - long day at work, and the last thing you want to do is cook something. You use some shortcuts and boil some packaged pasta and throw some canned sauce into the mix and call it a day.

Below is a new recipe I created that challenges you to take one or two extra steps but I promise you - it's totally worth it! On a most basic level, it's just grilled chicken, pasta and a pesto sauce. By using fresh ingredients and making my own pesto sauce, the dish was elevated to a whole new level. I also got to use my basil plant I recently planted in my backyard - much cheaper in the long run. Hands down one of my easiest, healthiest, and yummiest recipes to date!

Grilled Chicken Pesto with Fettuccine 

Serves: 4-6

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
    1 cup basil
    1 clove garlic
    1/4 cup grated parmesan
    salt & pepper to taste
    2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

    2 lbs grilled chicken breast

    1/2 teaspoon adobo seasoning

    1 lb FRESH fettuccine (see if your local grocer has this - it makes such a difference!)

1. Start with making the pesto. I removed pine nuts or walnuts from this version (stolen from Skinnytaste) to lower the fat content, and I promise you don't even notice.

Ingredients:
    1 cup basil
    1 clove garlic
    1/4 cup grated parmesan
    salt & pepper to taste
    2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing. Store in a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use or you can freeze this in ziplocks bags to use at a later date.

2. After this, start a pot of hot water for your pasta and allow it to get to a rolling boil. Generally, I like to add salt and olive oil to the water, but I would omit the salt this time. The pesto already has this flavor and this can easily get too salty.

3. Next, you can get started on your grilled chicken breast. I used a skillet, and left the chicken there to cook on medium high until no longer pink. Make sure to not move the chicken around too much, so it gets those nice grill marks. 

3. Once your water is ready, add the fresh fettuccine. Mine took less than three minutes to cook, so don't leave this unattended! If you are using boxed, just follow the directions they provide. 

4. Cut chicken into bite size chunks, mix with fettuccine and the pesto. Add more olive oil as necessary and top with more grated parmesan. Enjoy!

Chicken Picatta Pasta Toss

I can't believe I've never posted this recipe. It's one of my first meals that I successfully cooked, and has become quite a popular dish requested by friends and family.

This recipe is based on Rachel Ray, but I hesitate to say that this truly takes a half hour to make. The cooking part - yes, but there is a lot of prep time involved. My suggestion is to prep all of the food before getting started to make this stress-free.

Chicken Picatta Pasta Toss



Source: Food Network.com

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
Adobo seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
8 cloves garlic, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white wine (substitution: Sparkling Apple Cider)
1 lemon, juiced, skin grated
1 cup chicken broth or stock (substitution: vegetable broth)
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 pound penne rigate pasta, cooked to al dente

Directions
1. Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and the chicken to the pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper and Adobo. Brown chicken until lightly golden all over, about 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from pan and return the skillet to the heat. Reduce heat to medium. 3. Add another tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter, the garlic and shallots to the skillet. Saute garlic and shallots 3 minutes.
4. Add flour and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in wine or cider and reduce liquid 1 minute.
5. Whisk lemon juice and broth into sauce. Stir in capers and parsley.
6. When the liquid comes to a bubble (about 5-8 minutes later), add remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to the sauce to give it a little shine.
7. Add chicken back to the pan and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Toss hot pasta with chicken and sauce and serve. Adjust salt and pepper, to your taste.
Serves 4.

PS. Garlic bread works incredibly well with this dish! YUM!

Chicken with Orzo, Spinach and Lemon

For me, there is a thrill that comes from cooking when I can open my pantry and my refrigerator and realize that I have the ingredients to make something truly delicious. Today's dinner was inspired by a box of orzo and some frozen spinach. Things started to get interesting when I realized I also had capers and chicken breasts. Bam! We have Chicken with Orzo, Spinach and Lemon, ladies and gentlemen.

I loosely based my meal on a recipe I found on Ciao Italia with Mary Anne Esposito, with some some slight changes. Enjoy!

Chicken with Orzo, Spinach and Lemon
Serves 4
30 minutes prep and cook time

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups orzo cooked according to package directions
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
One 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well squeezed
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Grinding coarse black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional - I like some heat!)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons capers in salt, well rinsed and minced
1/2 cup white wine or sparkling apple cider
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 tablespoons fresh minced parsley (optional)
2/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (I used mozzarella but would have preferred parmigiano)

Directions

1. Combine the orzo with 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Stir in 1/4 cup of the lemon juice. Salt to taste. Stir in the chopped spinach and 1/2 cup of cheese. Cover, set aside and keep warm. Or make ahead and reheat in the microwave when ready to serve.

2. Meanwhile, place each piece of chicken between two sheets of wax paper and use a meat pounder to thin them to about 1/4 inch thickness. Mix the flour, salt and pepper together in a bag and place each breast into the flour mixture, coating well on both sides and shaking off the excess. Set aside.

3. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large non stick skillet and brown the chicken, adding more olive oil as needed. Transfer them to a dish as they brown, and set aside. However, do not stack the breasts on top of each other, as they get soggy.

4. Add the butter to the pan and stir in the onion; cook until the onion wilts down, about 3 minutes. Add the capers and cook 1 minute. Stir in the wine or cider, raise the heat to high and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in lemon juice and zest and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens slightly.

5. Return the chicken cutlets to the pan and heat gently until hot. Make a bed of the orzo mixture on a serving platter. Place the chicken breasts over the orzoand pour the sauce over the top. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and parsley, and serve.

Healthy Chicken Pesto Pasta - Creamy and Rich!

I remember when I first started cooking I was sooo particular about following the directions to a "T". However, after experimenting and discovering some great and exciting combinations of food, it's fun to open my pantry and refrigerator and dream up a new concoction. Especially when it actually tastes GOOD!

Tonight I had a hankerin' for pesto chicken, but didn't want to go too crazy on the calories and fat intake. I used yoghurt to give it a cre

amy texture and used minimal amounts of oil without sacrificing taste at all.

Healthy Chicken Pesto Pasta

Serves: 2 (can be easily doubled)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 oz chicken breast - cut into strips or chunks, seasoned with salt, pepper, and Adobe seasoning (if available)
• 1/2 serving of whole wheat pasta (penne or linguine works well, I used egg noodles that I had handy)
• 2-3 tablespoons pesto (jar is fine)
• half an onion
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• red pepper flakes
• grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta as directed. Be sure to check the pasta before draining - whole wheat tends to take an extra minute to fully cook.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the pesto and lemon juice with yoghurt and mix well. Set aside.

3. In a nonstick pan set to medium high, add 1 tsp. of olive oil, the mushrooms and onions. Saute until onions are caramelized and mushrooms soften - about 5 minutes. When this is close to being cooked, add the garlic and allow to simmer for 1 minute. Remove from pan and combine with the bowl of pesto.

4. Using the same pan, add in chicken to cook until no longer pink. More olive oil can also be added if needed.

5. Once cooked, take chicken off heat and add pasta and pesto mix. Combine well, top with salt & pepper to taste. Top with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese and voila! Dinner is served :)