Creamy Pesto Chicken

I had leftover basil pesto, so I made this easy chicken dish.  It was creamy and delicious.  There was more sauce than I was expecting, and with the leftovers, we added some cooked pasta into the skillet and tossed with the pesto sauce which tasted really great (photo below).

Creamy Pesto Chicken

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (~1.3 lbs total)

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved (I just used a couple handfuls from my garden)

1/3 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup basil pesto

Directions:

Pound the chicken to an even thickness and cut each in half to make 4 total portions.  Season each side with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon oil.  Add the chicken and cook on each side until golden brown and cooked through, about 5-10 minutes, depending on thickness.  Remove to a plate.

Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the empty skillet.  Add the garlic and tomatoes and sauté for 3-5 minutes until tomatoes start to soften.  Add the milk, butter, and pesto into the skillet and stir to combine.  Allow the sauce to simmer for a couple minutes.

Add the chicken back into the skillet and turn to coat the chicken with the sauce.  Allow the chicken to simmer in the sauce for a couple minutes to reheat.  Serve hot.

Baked Pesto Salmon

This is one of my favorite recipes using basil pesto.  Easy, fast, and delicious.  Roasting the cherry tomatoes made them quite sweet which created a really nice bite with the saltier pesto on the salmon.  We had a side of cilantro rice as well as a cucumber salad from my garden.

Baked Pesto Salmon

Ingredients:

Salmon fillets, about 6oz each

salt and pepper

homemade basil pesto (see below)

cherry tomatoes, halved  

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425º F.   Place salmon filets, skin side down, in a baking dish.  Arrange tomatoes around the salmon.   Season the salmon with salt and pepper.  Spread a couple tablespoons of pesto over each salmon filet.  You can be as generous as you like.  Bake uncovered for 12-15 minutes until the fish is moist and flaky (to about 140º).

*******************

Basil Pesto (makes 1 cup):

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed 

1/3 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

Add basil and nuts to a food processor and pulse a few times.  Add cheese and garlic and pulse several times more, scraping the sides of the bowl.  While the food processor runs, slowly add oil in a thin, steady stream, occasionally stopping to scrape the sides to get a uniform paste.  Season with salt and pepper.

Brown Butter Sage Skillet Chicken

 

I have a lot of sage growing in my herb garden so I decided to make this easy dinner.  The picture doesn't look the best because I overbrowned the sage a bit, but it still tasted good.  I really liked the buttery crispy sage.  I crumbled it into my couscous too.  

Brown Butter Sage Skillet Chicken

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin

salt and pepper

1/3 cup flour

6 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/3 cup fresh sage leaves

juice of 1/2 lemon, use other half for serving wedges

1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth

Directions:

Season each side of chicken with salt and pepper and dredge each piece in flour in a shallow dish to lightly coat.

Add 2 tablespoons butter plus 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  When butter melts, add chicken and sauté for 3-5 minutes per side until golden and cooked through.  Remove to a plate and cover with foil.  Set aside.

Add remaining 4 tablespoons butter to skillet.  Once butter melts, add sage leaves and let brown and bubble for a minute or two.  Remove sage to a paper towel-lined plate.   

Add lemon juice and wine or broth to the butter in the skillet and stir well.   Let the sauce reduce and thicken a little and return chicken to the skillet to re-warm for a couple minutes, spooning sauce over chicken.  Serve chicken with sauce and top with sage.  Garnish with a lemon wedge.  

Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies

This recipe was a great healthy way to use the zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers in my garden.  You can add or substitute various other veggies too.  

Sheet Pan Chicken and Veggies

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 small onion, sliced or chopped

1 small zucchini, sliced

1 bell pepper, cut into strips

1-2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Toss the chicken and veggies with olive oil and add all the seasonings.  Toss to mix.   Place the chicken and veggies on a rimmed baking sheet coated with cooking spray or lined with nonstick foil.  Bake at 400º for 20-30 minutes until chicken is done.