Grilled Chicken With Spinach And Pine Nut Pesto Food

GRILLED CHICKEN WITH SPINACH AND PINE NUT PESTO

Steps:

• Heat a grill pan on medium high heat.
• Lightly oil the grill pan.
• Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
• Grill the chicken until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
• Combine the spinach, pine nuts, lemon juice, and lemon peel in a processor.
• Lightly pulse.
• With the machine running, gradually add 1/3 cup of the oil, blending until the mixture is creamy.
• Add salt and pulse.
• Put half of the pesto into ice cube trays and store in the freezer for future use.
• Transfer the rest of the spinach mixture to a medium bowl.
• Stir in the Parmesan.
• Season the pesto with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Spread the pesto over each piece of chicken and serve.

GRILLED CHICKEN SKEWERS WITH DECONSTRUCTED PESTO

Steps:

• Build a fire in your grill; when the flames have died down, all the coals are covered with gray ash and the temperature is medium (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the grill for about 5 seconds), you're ready to cook. (For a gas grill, turn all burners to high, lower cover and heat for 15 minutes, then turn burners to medium.)
• Combine the chicken, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss well to coat, then thread the chicken chunks onto the skewers so they press up against one another but aren't jammed together.
• Put the skewers on the grill directly over the coals and cook, rolling the skewers around every 3 to 4 minutes to ensure all the sides are more or less evenly exposed to the heat, until lightly seared, about 12 to 14 minutes. To check for doneness, make a small cut and peek inside a couple of the chunks to be sure they are opaque all the way through with no pink.
• Slide the chicken chunks off the skewers into a large bowl, add all the other ingredients one after the other, toss well to coat evenly, season to taste if needed and serve.