by Christina Perinhas
We have all heard over and over again that a healthy, well-balanced diet is important–but what about healthy, well-balanced AND delicious? Sure, you may enjoy that salad you get at work every week with the arugula, chickpeas, grilled chicken, and dressing on the side. Sounds healthy, but let’s be real. Doesn’t it become boring and bland after a while?
I’ve begun on a journey of discovering and creating new foods to enjoy that are good and good for you! Here is one of my newest recipes, which can be made vegetarian, vegan or be made with meat.
Pesto “Pasta”
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 Medium spaghetti squash, halved, seeds & threads removed
- 1 Cup of pistachios, unsalted & shelled
- 1 Cup of basil
- 2-4 Garlic cloves (depending on how much you enjoy garlic)
- Olive oil
CHICKEN OPTION:
- 1 TBSP of lemon juice
- Ground pepper, to season
- 1 Pound of boneless chicken, cubed
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a baking sheet or casserole dish add about 1 inch of water. Place squash on cut side and bake for 25 minutes in oven. When it is done flip it over and let cool.
- Pulse pistachios in your food processor 3 or 4 times.
- Add basil & garlic, pulse again until mixture is chunky.
- Drizzle some olive oil into the mixture, pulse a few more times and continue until you get a consistency that you’d like for the pesto. (I didn’t want to add a ton of olive oil so mine was pretty chunky, but delicious). This makes about 2 cups of pesto.
- CHICKEN OPTION: Add lemon juice, black pepper and 1 TBSP of olive oil to a pan and sauté the chicken that is already cubed.
- Use a fork to pull the threads of the spaghetti squash out and add to a serving plate. Top with the pesto & chicken if made (mix if you’d like).
