Grilled Chicken with Walnut Pesto Sauce and Warm Arugula Salad…
Posted on June 29, 2010 by Sarah in Dinner, Food, MealPlan, News | 16 Comments
Pesto is an amazing sauce; it makes anything taste good from scrambled eggs to salad – so I have been working on a decent paleo version. I think I came up with a pesto recipe, that in my humble opinion is better then most pestos which are laden with parmesean – and it’s super easy to put together. Tonight I grilled some chicken and poured the green goodness on top and served this dish with a Warm Arugula Salad, and our favorite Smashed Cauliflower. I have a bunch of left over pesto that I can’t wait to use as a topping for whatever else I eat tomorrow!!
Grilled Chicken with Walnut Pesto Sauce
Chicken
3-4 Chicken Breasts
Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning to taste (or just some cracked black pepper)
Pesto Sauce
4 oz fresh basil (3 ½ cups)
1 cup walnut halves and pieces
6 garlic cloves
1 cup olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
Juice from ½ a lemon
Heat your grill over medium high heat for approximately 10 min. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with either the Trader Joe’s seasoning or with just some black pepper. Turn grill down to low and place the chicken on the grill. Close the lid and grill for 7-10 minutes. Flip the chicken, close the lid, and grill for another 7-10 minutes. Remove the chicken and cover with tinfoil and set aside. Now it’s time for the pesto. In a food processor add the walnuts, garlic, sea salt, and olive oil. Process until smooth. Add the basil and lemon juice and process again until smooth. Slice the chicken and spoon the pesto sauce on top to serve.
Warm Arugula Salad
6 strips nitrate free bacon diced
2 shallots finely chopped
7 oz arugula
1/4 cup olive oil
Handful of chopped walnuts
Ground black pepper to taste
Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and set aside. In a medium sized skillet brown the diced bacon. Add the shallots and saute with the bacon until the shallots are translucent. Add the olive oil to the pan and heat just until warm. Pour the olive oil, bacon, shallot mixture over the arugula and mix well. The heat from the bacon mixture will slightly wilt the arugula – this is what you want! Add some fresh ground black pepper and serve immediately topped with a sprinkle of walnuts.
16 Comments to “Grilled Chicken with Walnut Pesto Sauce and Warm Arugula Salad…”
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Wow, this looks amazing! I’ll share it on my blog tomorrow. yum.
Thank you for all of your great recipes. Our family has really enjoyed going paleo. In fact I had some of the “Quick Curry Soup” for lunch today. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
The pesto was awsome! Great taste and went very well with the chicken.
Wow! I just had dinner (this is The Netherlands, in case your wondering) and now I’m hungry all over again. Great pictures! Will definitely give it a try!
Recipe looks great. I think I’ll make it for dinner tomorrow. How do I make smashed cauliflower? I’ve tried it before and it didn’t come out to good.
Hey Tom! For the smashed cauliflower, I cut a head of cauliflower into florets, and then steam them until they are really soft. Melt a big spoonful of ghee or organic butter in a bowl, add the cauliflower, and with a potatoe masher, smash the caulilfower. Add a bit of sea salt and some fresh cracked pepper. When you smash by hand, it will be lumpy, almost more like a rice consistency. If you want a smooth mash, you can use a food processor if you like. You can also spice it up with curry powder, garlic, rosemary, or whatever else you like. Let me know how it turns out!
[...] In the Daily Life Wellness recipe department, I just found one for grilled chicken with a walnut pesto sauce on Everyday Paleo. It’s awesome, and easy. Just make sure your food processor is in good working order. Check it out. [...]
Sarah – The pesto and the salad were fantastic. Thanks so much for all of your work on this site. My wife was diagnosed with an autoimmune issue and has seen big improvements since we switched to a Paleo diet. You blog has been an invaluable resource as we try to implement Paleo in a practical way. We love the recipes and our kids like them too.
Hi Dave,
I’m so glad that your wife has been doing better since switching to paleo eating! Thank you so much for your feedback, and please keep me posted on how things go!
Made this for dinner last night!! Incredible! Used the leftover pesto today for lunch over Mahi Mahi.
Can’t wait to try this! My husband and I recently jumped on the Paleo bandwagon. I really enjoy eating meals as opposed to random foods that fit the Paleo standard, but I’ve been having trouble coming up with Paleo meals on my own. Thanks so much for sharing all your tips/recipes!
Made this tonight. DELISH! That pesto sauce was great. Here’s the proof: http://twitpic.com/276l1l
Who said New Yorkers can’t cook? Thank you!
Hey Kevin,
Cool pic – great job it looks yummy! : )
Thank you so much for this recipe!!!!!
Wow! I just found your website. All your recipes look amazing, and easy to make! Thanks! I can’t wait to try this recipe tonight. Do your boys get to eat much junk food? I have 2 little ones and it’s so hard to stay paleo with them in the house!
Hey Kelly! Well, I don’t allow junk food in my house so no, they don’t eat much junk. We go out to ice cream now and then and when we do go out to eat, which is not that often, they order what they want to, but they all make pretty good choices even outside of the house, but we have been eating strict paleo for almost 3 years so it’s been a journey to get to where we are now. I’m all about getting the kids involved in buying and making our food which really helps them all get excited about eating paleo, we also are honest with the older ones and try to teach them why we eat the way we do and to them it’s just normal now… I hope that helps!