Lemon Chicken Pesto Pasta

Probably much to Marc's delight, as Vince gets older, he allows me time to do the things I did before he was born - like cook dinner. Also to his delight, I have way too much time on my hands which means the experimentation level goes up. I've previously mentioned my interest in marinades and creating my own. Last night for dinner we had chicken marinaded in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and minced garlic, with broccoli, pine nuts and pasta. 

Being pregnant taught me a lot. First my newly developed sense of smell turned me on to broccoli (a food previously shunned for its tree-like appearance). It also taught me that I never ever ever want to be diabetic. I spent one week on a very strict diet in preparation for a glucose tolerance test. It was a normal test in terms of pregnancy screenings. The diet was a complex-carbohydrate, no simple sugars (read: no milk, no fruits, no "white" anything, etc) with a blood screening at the end of the week. It was awful! No milk with dinner! The horror! The positive to this experience was that Marc and I started our affair with whole wheat pasta. It's pretty darn tasty!

So without further ado Lemon Chicken Pesto Pasta:

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken breasts

2 heads broccoli (chopped)

1 handful of pine nuts

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 heavy pinch of salt

4 cracks of fresh black pepper

5 strong squirts of lemon juice

1/4 cup (or so) of olive oil

Fresh pesto sauce

(Don't you just adore my new measuring system?)

Procedure

1. Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic into the base of a large bowl

2. Add chicken to bowl and coat

3. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinade for 2-3 hours

4. Remove chicken and pan fry in a frying pan, turning frequently

5. Meanwhile, prepare pasta per the directions on the box

6. Steam broccoli in a covered pot

7. Toast pine nuts

8. When chicken is finished cooking chop into bite size pieces and add to a bowl

9. Drain pasta when complete

10. Remove broccoli from heat when it appears bright in color and a fork passes through easily (but not mushily)

11. Remove pine nuts from heat when they have a slight brownish look and appear somewhat shiny

12. Add ingredients to bowl

13. Top with fresh pesto sauce

14. Toss and enjoy!

Pictures!

Marinade Ingredients ^

Marinade mixed together

Chicken tossed and ready to go in the fridge

See! We switched!

Pre-steamed broccoli

Pine nuts preparing to get warm and toasty

Chicken frying

Stove in full swing

Yummies!

Things I liked about this dish: it has a complex carb, a meat, a non-starch vegetable, and pine nuts. I love pine nuts. 

Things I didn't like about this dish: a little too much oil for my taste, I overcooked the chicken. Oops. I hadn't thought about the pesto sauce having olive oil pre-mixed into it. If I had realized this I would have cut down on the amount of oil I used in the marinade. 

Overall, it was still a tasty dish. It kept me full throughout the night (and when you get up 3-4 times a night, that's an important thing!) 

What things have you been experimenting with in the kitchen?