Pesto Chicken (10 Minute Dinner)

Rachel Ray thinks she's all slick with her thirty minute meals, but I've cooked something up that would turn her face red! Ten minute chicken! Oh yes, my friends... there's a new girl on the block and you can bet your chubby bottom that she doesn't have a raspy voice or swear by a garbage bowl!

I am a huge fan of pesto, as I'm sure you gathered from my recent Pesto Cannelini Bean Soup recipe. As I've branched out beyond my former cucnina comfort zone, I've learned that pesto sauce doesn't just have to be served over a steaming hot bowl of pasta (but if you're going to do this, eat it over tortelinni... Oh my goodness gracious!), but rather it can be used as a main ingredient in so many other recipes.

Pesto chicken is amazing and so easy. Sure, you could go ahead and make it more complicated by whipping up your own batch of the green stuff (I'd probably be really mad at you for upstaging me, but whatevs... we're probably not friends anyway!), but why bother when you can buy a decent jar at your local grocery store. The farmers' market always sells delicious pesto sauce, but it's $7. Since I try to be spendthrift, though, I reserve the expensive stuff for pasta-only dishes and use the cheap stuff when I'm adding other ingredients. So don't feel like a loser buying the cheapest thing on the shelf because I'll be right there with you, having one of those moments when we both reach for the same item at the exact same time.

Ingredients
1 pound chicken
3 tbsp pesto sauce (remember, it's okay to be a cheapskate!)
2 cloves pressed garlic
3 tbsp olive oil
lemon juice to taste, optional

Method:
1. Using kitchen shears, cut chicken into 1"-ish chunks. They should be about 1" x 1".

2. Combine oil, pesto sauce, garlic, and lemon if you choose to use it. I usually omit this unless I'm using the marinade for seafood. This will be more of a rub than a marinade, but if you want to marinade, it will still be good and there won't be any waste. Doesn't it break your heart to dump a half a cup of olive oil down the drain? All. That. Money!

3. If you want to marinate them, go ahead... it will make it taste even more delicious. I usually do this before I go to work. If you don't have time to marinate, no big deal. Proceed to step 4.

4. Toss coated chicken into a frying pan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside.

5. Serve it, bro! We've been eating partially ghetto style, so last night we had this with leftover beans and pierogies. Ha. Honestly, though, this would be awesome with roasted red potatoes or a side of pinata pasta (recipe on this blog). Pin It