Do you have left overs?
Roasted Chicken
That’s most likely a rhetorical question if your home is anything like ours. With food prices creeping up – I try to be mindful of the costs associated with wasting left-overs. What I find helpful is thinking about leftovers prior to cooking, cooking once for multiple meals. This dish came about because of this new way of approaching my shopping list. I think chicken is the most versatile protein we purchase – always thinking about the various ways to prepare it for the first meal and how to manage the entire amount for several dishes, either later in the week or prepared later with meat that is frozen.
The ingredients in this recipe are simple and pretty much on our menu list each week: chicken, leafy greens, pasta and cheese. The most common pesto recipe is made with fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Romano or Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper. BUT you can make pesto with a variety of green leafy veggies. That’s another way to save money and not waste food… think of that bag of prepared salad greens as a cool salad for one or two meals and a saute of greens with olive oil and garlic for the next.
Kale is a leafy green vegetable we use in stews, salads and saute. Last week we decided to make a pesto from leaves that were in the crisper for a day or two and had begun to loose some of that vitality that makes them so good in salads. We substituted it for the basil in the common recipe and also made the dish with toasted and chopped hazelnuts. We added this freshly made Kale Pesto over pasta cooked to al dente (firm not hard). Dividing the pasta & pesto into 3 servings, on two we added left-over Roasted Chicken to the dish that had been warmed (briefly) in the microwave with just a touch of chicken stock to keep it moist. These were served with a small loaf of warm crusty bread for dinner and it was Dee-Lish-Us!
Pesto made with kale & roasted hazelnuts on penne pasta with Roasted Chicken.
The 3rd portion when into the fridge for lunch the next day and I believe added some left-over bacon to it!
Welcome to the Cookout! ~ Barry CB Martin
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
- Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Notes
Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.
Special equipment needed: A food processor is most helpful in making this dish - but a blender can also work.
Substitute spinach, kale or other green leafy vegetables. Use lightly toasted pine nuts (chopped), walnuts, hazel nut or even peanuts.
