Geoffrey Z's Pesto Chicken

Hi everyone! I'm Kelly. I am one of the Massachusetts reps, and I write A Lovely Life, Indeed. 

I love Food Network shows. And I think that Geoffrey Zakarian is a hunk. He's handsome when he's rendering judgement on Chopped and he's even hotter when he's cooking on Food Network's latest offering, The Kitchen. 

He hit a home run recently when he prepared a Spring-inspired, pesto salmon. So easy and so intuitive, as far as flavor palates are concerned. I had to try it.

We had leftover chicken breasts in the freezer, so before buying fresh salmon, I opted to use what we had, and I thawed the frozen boneless breasts. 

Thank you, Geoffrey, for a fabulous, Spring-inspired dish that offers versatility with protein, allowing me to mix it up, depending on what we have on hand or what's on sale any given week. 

Geoffrey's Pesto Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 container of pesto
Dijon mustard
Melted butter
Salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat your oven to 325.
• Using a pastry brush, lightly brush melted butter onto your baking sheet. 
• Season the pan with salt and pepper....I know, odd, but it works. Perfectly seasoned protein.
• Place the chicken breasts on the seasoned baking sheet. Brush the chicken breasts with a light coat of melted butter. Season the tops with salt and pepper to taste.
• In a small bowl, mix about 3-4 tablespoons of the pesto with about 2-3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard. You can eye-ball it. The pesto is the star. The mustard enhances it...truly.
• Mix until well blended. Depending on your pesto love, or the size of the chicken breasts, you may need to mix up more. It's better to make more than make too much and waste it.
• Spoon the pesto mixture onto the chicken. 
• Bake the chicken 30-40 minutes, or until cooked through. It smells amazing and tastes even better. 
• You'll have oil on the bottom of the pan. If you're a bread eater, I'm guessing it's a fabulous dipping oil. I'm not, so I can't vouch for it. But I don't leave the chicken sitting in the oil...too much. It's olive oil from the pesto, but still, I don't care for the extra oil.

Geoffrey served his pesto salmon with a cucumber salad. 

I served mine with spaghetti squash, sautéed with garlic and olive oil. 

What dishes do you look forward to each season? What's up for Spring? Inspire me. 

Cheers!

Thank you to Northeast Bloggers Network for letting me guest post. If you're looking for an upbeat blog about love, travel and the good life, visit me at A Lovely Life, Indeed. Have a great weekend!

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