Tara Riddle: Basil pesto grilled chicken (recipe)

One of my favorite dishes to eat in the wintertime is chicken parmesan. I appreciate the warm comfort it brings to the dinner timetable. I missed this dish so much but felt it to be a bit heavy for these hot summer days. So, I created a new version of the chicken parmesan with pesto.

Basil pesto grilled chicken must make it on your dinner menu this week. It’s grill season, so we will make grilled chicken instead of pan frying the chicken. This cuts back on calories and the heaviness of a traditional chicken parmesan.

First, we will season our chicken breast with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and lemon pepper seasoning. Do this first and set to the side or marinate your chicken overnight in the fridge for the most flavor. You can use your favorite chicken seasoning for this part. I enjoy lemon seasoning because it goes great with the pesto.

Pesto is a bright green herb sauce that originated from Italy. It is made with pine nuts. You can get these from Trader Joe's. Pesto is the star of the show here, so if we are going to fail at anything in life, we are not going to fail at making this pesto.

If any of you know me, then you know that I am a real estate agent, a Farmer’s Market vendor, and a single mom. Sometimes (all the time), I am tired, and I choose to buy the pesto.

No harm done. Don’t stress yourself and go check out the different options from your nearest grocery store. Life is short… it’s OK to buy the pesto and not make it from scratch. If you are one of those over achievers in life, then please see the pesto recipe below.

Pesto ingredients (makes 1-1/2 cup of pesto)

2 cups fresh basil leaves tightly packed

3/4 cups shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts (or walnuts)

2 large garlic cloves

1/4 cup lemon juice (2 small lemons)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Zest from 1 lemon

Directions

Place all of these ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. That’s it. You’ve made pesto. Congratulations!

Dinner ingredients

Pesto

Chicken breast

Tomatoes

Your favorite cheese to melt onto the chicken

Directions

Now it’s time to fire up that grill. While the grill is heating up you can prep the rest of the ingredients for dinner. Take your tomato and dice it up for a topping. Get your cheese ready to put on the chicken for melting.

Grill the chicken on both sides. When the chicken is cooked through, you can add your cheese. Once melted, pull the chicken off of the grill and place it in a serving dish. Top with pesto and freshly diced tomatoes. Dinner is served.

Pesto is a great sauce for many things. You can use this recipe to make a sauce for some summer pasta, pizza sauce, and salad dressing.

Tara Riddle is a real estate agent at Coldwell Banker Select. She also works at the Farmer’s Market in Carson City or Black Rock Bison.