Baked Balsamic Chicken with Pesto

I love to experiment with new recipes, and since chicken is a staple in my husbands diet, I like coming up with easy yummy ways to prepare it. This is so simple that you can prepare it the night before, leave it in the fridge and cook the next day.

I call this my healthy version of Shake and Bake...LOL! So make sure you have your Zip Lock Bag ready.

Ingredients:

1 package of Chicken Breast
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Italian Bread Crumbs
1/3 cup Panko
2 TBSP Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 TBSP jarred Pesto
4-6 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBSP Sliced Black Olives
2 TBSP diced cherry tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 375. In a Zip lock bag place your breadcrumb, panko, cheese and chicken. Shake until chicken is fully coated. In a baking dish lined with foil, place your 1-2 TBSP of balsamic, and then put your chicken on the sheet. Use the remaining balsamic and coat the chicken, top each piece  with a drizzle of pesto. Add the olives;tomatoes and bake. Cook for 30 minutes depending on the thickness of your breast. Let cool and serve.

This dish can be served with a large salad or what I did was sauteed mixed vegetables with rice on the side.  This is a great dish to use with company, or parties with.

Ground Turkey with Butternut Squash and Tomato

I love experimenting with different kinds of vegetables, squash is so healthy, and delish...my favorite happens to be butternut. The summer is just not the season for great fresh squash so I tried frozen. Lets just say it was husband approved.

Ingredients:
1 package of Butternut Squash cubed
1 package Ground Turkey
1 diced Zucchini
1 can of diced tomato
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 TBSP Olive oil
2 TBSP chopped Sun dried tomato

In a saute pan place your oil, butternut squash, zucchini and turkey. Cook till turkey is no longer pink and vegetables are tender. Add your seasoning, sundried tomato and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Tips:
This dish can be served with just about anything, I did it with brown rice but you can do quinoa, pasta, or potato.

Healthy Olive Spread

During the summer months, my family like to unwind after work or on the weekend to a great glass of wine and some sliced vegetables with spread before dinner, or going out. I started to notice in the market all the different high calorie spreads and felt it was NOT worth the extra lbs.

Since my family loves olives my mom and I came up with this lower sodium version of the store bought, it is super light and full of flavor...so lets get started.

Ingredients:

1 small can of black olives (washed)
1/2 can of green olives (washed)
1/2 jar of Kalamata olives (washed)
1 clove of garlic
1 TBSP Olive Oil


Take all of the above ingredients and place them into a food chopper or mixer. Chop till all the olives are broken up, pour into a dish and serve.

Tips:
I love to serve this with cucumbers, carrots, or whole grain cracker. It can be a great snack on pita, or toasted whole grain bread.