Grilled Chicken Penne with Pesto

I wanted to use the pesto that I made today, and I must say, this little creation turned out DELICIOUS. I marinated the chicken for about 3 hours then grilled it on the BBQ. It was so simple to throw together, and tasted so very yummy.

Lemon-Garlic Marinade:
⅓ c. canola oil
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
½ of a lemon (juiced)
¼ t. black pepper salt if desired

*Let chicken marinate for a few hours then grill until fully cooked.

Grilled Chicken Penne with Pesto:
Penne pasta- cooked according to directions
Mushrooms- sliced
Cherry tomatoes
Spinach
Olive oil (tiny bit for sautéing)
Lemon-garlic chicken
Homemade Pesto (see previous post)

Ok, so this isn’t really a recipe, because it just totally depends on how much of everything you want. I just sautéed the mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach in about 1 tsp of olive oil then placed them on top of cooked pasta with the grilled chicken. Top with however much pesto you prefer (I used a couple of tablespoons for each serving)

Oh, and P.S.... you are all slackers!!!

Pesto

I decided to make pesto because I had a lot of basil that was starting to get wilted. I kind of modified the recipe mom uses to make it lower fat. I used some lemon juice to replace some of the olive oil, and I think it added a little punch to it. Anyways, it was really really good.

Pesto:
2 T pinenuts
2-3 cloves of garlic
¼ t. salt
¼ t. pepper
1 T lemon juice
2½ T olive oil
1 c. fresh basil (packed tightly)

¼ c. parmesan cheese

Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor or blender. (I used a hand blender). This recipe makes about 1 cup of pesto.

Grapenuts with milk and sugar

With Travis so often away this is a staple for me.

1 cup Post Grapenuts cereal
1-2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 c milk

combine and enjoy!

(You guys can probably hear me laughing at myself right now.....)

asian pork

asian pork tenderloin:

1½ lb pork tenderloin
⅓ c. low sodium soy sauce
3 T sesame oil
2 T canola oil
½ t. Worcestershire sauce
1 T brown sugar
1-2 t. roasted red chili paste (or something to add a little kick)
1½ t. ground ginger paste
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped

I had a pork tenderloin in my freezer forever that I wanted to get rid of, so I tried this little number, and it was DELICIOUS!! The tenderloin that I bought was really lean, so other times that I have made it it turns out really dry.. NOT this one. It was tender and the perfect mixture of salty, sweet, and flavorful. I placed the frozen tenderloin in the crockpot, mixed all the other ingredients together, and poured them into the crockpot. I then let it cook on "low" for about 8-9 hours. I was planning on it being firm enough to slice, but it was so tender that it just shredded when I tried cutting it, so it was more of a pulled pork. I used a fork to poke holes into it while it was cooking so more of the juices would be absorbed, and it was really really yummy.
I ended up serving it with some steamed sugar snap peas, carrots, and green cabbage, which I just tossed with a little bit of terryaki sauce, and it was so so good. (So good that I didn't have time to take pictures because jared ate it too fast)

*This is the paste I use, which I found in the asian food section at kohler's. Mom had a hard time finding it at the store, but I use it in all my asian recipes. It is pretty mild, so if you want more spice, you might want to use a red pepper paste or something.

Labels

So, I just made it so the labels can be viewed on the sidebar. So when you post a recipe, please label it so we can have quick references to find recipes.

Emily and Mom... it's your turn!

Roasted Tomato Salsa

I found this recipe online and I made it with carne asada tacos and it was delicious! I can't take credit for the nice photo, but mine looked pretty close to that.

• 6-7 fresh garden tomatoes sliced lengthwise, stem and core removed
• 1/4 sweet yellow onion chopped in large pieces (separated)
• 2 green onions, tops trimmed
• 1 jalapeno (optional)
• 1 clove of garlic cut into slivers
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small handful of chopped cilantro (DO NOT ROAST)

Line small baking sheet with tinfoil (easier cleanup) and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice tomatoes lengthwise and put onto center of baking sheet. Add separated pieces of onion, green onion & jalapeno on and around tomato. Place garlic slivers inside the tomato halves to protect them from burning and to infuse the tomatoes with garlic flavor. Drizzle olive oil all over mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes or until tomatoes are soft & juicy and the onions are tender. Remove from oven and let cool thoroughly.

Add to a bowl with fresh cilantro and blend using an immersion blender or regular blender. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving so the flavors can combine. Enjoy.

Chicken, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes in a Lemon Garlic Sauce

Yesterday I was craving some sort of chicken pasta, so I came up with this little creation. I had all the ingredients (which hardly ever happens), and it turned out really really yummy. Jared and I both loved it, and it is pretty healthy.. for pasta. It was really easy, and pretty quick to make. I marinated the chicken for about 4 hours, then threw it all together in about 20 minutes. I never measure anything when I cook (sort of a bad habit), so I did my best to guestimate the amounts of everything, but it should be pretty close.

Lemon-Balsamic Marinade:

½ c. olive oil
¼ c. balsamic vinegar
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. lemon zest
1-2 cloves of garlic-minced
½ t. salt
½ t. lemon pepper

*Mix together and pour over 2 chicken breasts. Let marinade for 3-4 hours.

1 c. mushrooms-chopped
1 c. grape tomatoes
1 clove garlic-minced
1 package pasta of choice-cooked according to package directions
(I used whole wheat angel hair because I had it, but I would suggest
penne or farfalle because it would be easier to toss)
1 whole lemon-juiced
3 T. olive oil
2 T. fresh basil-chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Once chicken is ready, slice into bite-sized chunks and sautee for 4-5 minutes, on medium heat. Add mushrooms, garlic, and tomatoes and sautee for another 4-5 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked and mushrooms/tomatoes are tender. Add cooked pasta, olive oil, lemon juice, basil, salt and pepper, and toss together. Allow to cook on low heat for another 3-4 minutes, then serve.