This blog has been long overdue for a recipe.  It isn’t for lack of wanting to share and there are an abundance of recipes I have ready to post.  Somehow life has just got a bit crazy and we haven’t been home very much lately which means I haven’t been cooking.  Boy did I miss it!  I love cooking so much that when we moved to Chicago my main request was a nice kitchen.  I love to spend time in there trying out new meals and especially desserts.  A few weeks ago I threw this meal together using some of the ingredients we had left in our refrigerator.  It was as big a hit as it was easy.  Even better, it is pretty healthy.  Last night I paired it with a simple green salad topped with my favorite homemade lemon mustard vinaigrette.  I added my usual go to accompaniment of roasted asparagus because I just love its detoxifying qualities.  While the chicken baked I just drizzled the asparagus with a tad of truffle oil and some sea salt and put it in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Pesto Baked Chicken

Ingredients:

1 package of organic chicken tenderloins (about a half pound to a pound)

Eggs (I used Egg Beaters because it is simple)

Italian seasoned bread crumbs (panko works well too)

Small jar of pesto

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Turn oven to 350º and coat a baking dish with spray.  Side note: I found coconut oil cooking spray at Trader Joe’s and I about started jumping up and down in the store.  Place egg whites and bread crumbs in separate bowls.  Dredge tenderloins in eggs and then in breadcrumbs.  Make sure they are evenly coated and then place in baking dish.

Place a spoonful of pesto over each tenderloin.  Once you have pesto on each piece of chicken spread the pesto evenly with a spoon.  Don’t do this until you have put all the pesto on the chicken, you don’t want to put the spoon back in the jar once it has touched the chicken because of cross contamination.

Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Pull the chicken out 5 minutes before it is done and spread cheese over the chicken.  Continue baking until the chicken is done and the cheese has melted.

Fresh Salad With Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

Fresh salad mix

1 red onion thinly sliced

Goat cheese

1 lemon

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp. mustard

(You can also add a bit of minced garlic to this but I forgot it!)

Directions:

Place salad mix and sliced red onion along with a tablespoon of goat cheese on a plate.

Mix together the juice of one lemon, olive oil, vinegar and mustard.  Drizzle over salad.

We topped our salads with the baked chicken and it was a delicious combination.  This dinner is a great combo of healthy carbs, fresh greens, and healthy protein.  The dressing has just enough healthy fat to help your body absorb the nutrients of the salad but isn’t full of excess fats or calories.

You can have this dinner done in less than a half an hour and it is pretty budget friendly to feed a family, or a small army!  This is a guilt free meal you can have for lunch or dinner.