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.
Printable Recipe
Grilled Chicken with Spinach-Chive Pesto
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
- â…“ 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
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Cookin' Canuck
Thanks, BeckyRos. I enjoyed reading your profile.
BeckyRos
Welcome to the Utah Hive! You have lots of tasty recipes on your blog! I will have to try some soon.
newlyweds
Oh this looks really good!
Cookin' Canuck
Yes, I think arugula would be great. The flavor will be a little different b/c arugula has a peppery taste to it, but I think it would be a good variation.
Anonymous
I love the color of that pesto! Do you think I could use arugula instead of spinach?