Kate's Pesto Chicken

Welcome back to what I hope will be another great, successful week!

Today I am going to focus on a great pesto chicken recipe, that I love making. 

It started out when I was at home, and I got the dreaded text from my boyfriend saying, “What do you want for dinner? Think of something.” Obviously, I hate planning out what I want for dinner, it is usually a spur of the moment endeavour when I cook. Whatever ingredients I have in my cupboards and fridge, I use and make something.

I eventually gave up thinking, and searched online for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, I was like “I feel like chicken, pesto chicken”. So that is exactly what I decided to make.

I went to the grocery store, and these are the ingredients I purchased to make my meal. (2 sides included).

1.   2 Boneless chicken thighs (already defrosted)

2.   Pesto

3.   1 Lemon

4.   Asparagus

5.   Orange juice (whatever kind prefer, pulp, pulp-free)

6.   2 Oranges

7.   Red pepper flakes

8.   White rice (or any kind you would like)

9.   Any other spices you may want

Here we go, simple and easy preparation.

Preparation

For Chicken:

1.   Pre heat your oven to 450 degrees.

2.   I find it easy to distribute the sauce better onto the chicken if you use a bowl or Ziploc container. Put the chicken (both pieces) in a bowl, and put the pesto sauce all over the thighs.

3.   Cut a lemon in half, and squeeze some juice onto the chicken for added flavour.

4.   Take the chicken, and place in a non-stick or greased pan (I use olive oil or cooking spray).

5.   Place in the oven for 45 minutes, or until cooking evenly throughout.

** Check the chicken every so often to ensure that it is cooking. **

For Rice:

I usually use a cup of rice for 2 people, always seems to multiple.

1.   Take a cup of rice, and put it into a medium saucepan.

2.   Add 2 cups of water to the uncooked rice.

3.   Place on the stove at a high temperature.

4.   Once the water starts to boil, turn the temperature down to a lower setting, and place a lid on top.

5.   Stir every couple minutes to make sure it will not stick or burn.

6.   Add red pepper flakes, lemon juice or whatever other spices you may like on top.

For Asparagus:

If you are making this side dish for two people, I will usually cook 5 pieces for each person.

1.  Make the sauce for the asparagus
2.  Half a cup of orange juice
3. Lemon juice
4.  Red pepper flakes for some spice
5.  Cut orange slices
6. Submerge the asparagus into the sauce, and let sit for 5 minutes
7. Place the asparagus in a large pan on medium heat
8. Pour some of the sauce on top, and place orange slices all over the pan and asparagus.
9. Turn the asparagus every couple minutes so they won’t burn
10. Cook until the asparagus is soft, but not too soft

All you have to do now is set the table, serve and enjoy!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

On a side note, if you have any leftovers, 

it makes a great next-day work lunch or class lunch.

Check back tomorrow for some of Robyn’s “Healthy Vegetarian Options”.

--Kate