When I was about 4-years old, I went to a daycare in a wonderful home with a lovely garden. The lady who ran the daycare loved to grow herbs and vegetables. Her garden was filled with chive plants and, to her annoyance, I enjoyed eating them by the handful and managed to convinced the other children to do the same. We would all go home stinking of garlic chives! Whenever she caught us in the chives, she would make us eat a few leaves of the mint plants to try to overcome our powerful breath. As you see, my love of chives started early.

I made this recipe for the first time last night and it's a keeper! I served the spinach-chive pesto over grilled chicken, but it would be wonderful over fish or meat, in a sandwich, or even mixed into scrambled eggs. The beauty of it is that it takes about 5 minutes to make and it can be made ahead. The recipe is adapted from one I found in Cooking Light magazine.

To make the pesto, combine 1 cup baby spinach, ½ cup chopped chives, 1 chopped garlic clove, ¼ cup toasted pine nuts, ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 2 teaspoon lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon salt.

Puree until the mixture is finely chopped. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use the pesto. When ready to use, bring to room temperature.

Rub each of 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat the grill to high heat and then turn down to medium heat. Place the chicken breasts on the grill and cook until done, about 5 minutes on each side.

Remove the chicken from the grill, let rest for 5 minutes, and then slice on a diagonal. Serve the chicken breasts with the pesto spread over top.

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Grilled chicken and potatoes on a red serving platter.

Grilled Chicken with Spinach-Chive Pesto

The pop of flavor from this easy spinach-chive pesto turns simple grilled chicken into something to remember!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Entrees

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Grilled Chicken, Spinach pesto

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Total Time: 25

Servings: Servings

Calories: 354kcal

Author: Dara Michalski | Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients

The pesto:

1 cup baby spinach
½ cup chopped chives (about 1 ounce chives)
1 garlic clove minced
¼ cup pine nuts toasted in a dry skillet
⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste

The chicken:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions

The pesto:

In a food processor, combine the baby spinach, chives, garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Puree until the mixture is finely chopped.
Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use the pesto. When ready to use, bring to room temperature.

The chicken:

Preheat the grill to high heat and then turn down to medium heat.
Rub each of the chicken breasts with 1 teaspoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken breasts on the grill and cook until done, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the grill, let rest for 5 minutes, and then slice on a diagonal.
Serve the chicken breasts with the pesto over top.

Notes

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I provide nutritional information for my recipes as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using the LoseIt! calculator and Weight Watchers points are calculated using the Recipe Builder on their site. While I attempt to provide information that is as accurate as possible, you should calculate the nutritional information independently before relying on it.

Nutrition

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Comments

5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)