Chicken Pesto Sandwiches

I bought a jar of pesto last weekend, thinking it'd be good for a couple meals. I used it in the beginning of the week tossed with some pasta, chicken and portobello mushrooms. Then I used it last night after zumba to make these delicious chicken pesto sandwiches. I was going to cook the chicken in my grill pan, but was feeling lazy and concerned about how long that would take, and it was already after 8 p.m. Instead I cut the chicken up into bite-size pieces and quickly browned it in a saute pan with some olive oil. I spread some jarred pesto onto one half of a kaiser roll, some chicken on the other half, a slice of havarti cheese over the chicken and cooked it under the broiler for a few minutes, to melt the cheese and toast the bread. The havarti melted beautifully over the chicken. I then added a little sliced red onion and marinated artichoke hearts, and had a delicious chicken pesto sandwich for dinner with a side of curly fries.

Wednesday Night Dinner: Pesto Pasta with Chicken

Last night for dinner I tossed together some thin spaghetti and browned chicken breasts with a jar of basil pesto. Simple, but delicious. And Suzie made fresh sourdough bread that she turned into garlic bread and served a flan for dessert. See next entry for the flan.

Wednesday Night Dinner: Pesto Scallops

This week's dinner were scallops served on a bed of spinach and crimini mushrooms topped with a homemade basil pesto sauce and served with a side of oven roasted sweet potatoes cooked with onions and garlic. Vanessa made dinner for us this week and it was pretty delicious. It was her first time cooking scallops, which are a tricky thing. They weren't perfect, but I think we'll continue trying to cook them. Her basil pesto was delicious and I kept the leftover pesto.

Summer is going to throw off the Wednesday night dinners a bit, I think, as Whitney is in Texas for the summer doing an internship and the others travel around. I am, sadly, the only one who will always be around for Wednesdays because my job doesn't offer me any vacation time in my first year there. So this week, the cast of characters was Vanessa, Chris, me and Vanessa's co-worker, Heather. I like how Wednesday night dinners has seen a steady stream of visitors. One day, we're going to end up with twice as many people as we started with.

Balsamic Chicken with Pesto Gravy and Bitter Greens

2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar

4 tablespoons EVOO

Salt and Black Pepper

4 small chicken breasts

6 cups of Arugula, washed and dried

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock

1/3 cup Heavy Cream

1/4 cup store bought Pesto

Parmigiano-Reggiano shavings for show

1. Combine vinegar, 2 tablespoons EVOO and Salt and Pepper to taste. Coat chicken.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon of EVOO. Add chicken and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

3. While chicken is cooking, in a large bowl combine the arugula, lemon juice, remaining EVOO. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Remove chicken from pan and put on a cutting board. Add the butter to the skillet, when it is melted add flour and cook for a minute or so. Whisk in chicken stock and cream. Bring to a simmer to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in pesto.

5. Cut chicken and arrange on a dinner plate. Pour on pesto gravy, then top with arugula and cheese shavings.

---Review---

Awesome.