Day 6 (of Whole30): Grilled Pesto Chicken

Because breakfast was just the breakfast casserole and a grapefruit, and lunch was leftovers as well, I'm focusing this post on dinner, which was a resounding success, IMO.

Day 6: Dinner
I'm really excited about this one because it involved succesfully repurposing some recipes I use often.  As I said to my house guest, I'd rather tweak something I know by heart than have to think about a new recipe (when I'm tired, anyway).

This is grilled pesto chicken over eggplant & tomatoes with a side of grilled yellow squash.  Also had, but not pictured, was celery, cucumbers, and bell peppers for dipping into the guacamole (avocado, tomatoes, onion, lime juice, tobasco, celery salt).

Pesto Chicken
Puree in food processor all of these ingredients: 2 c basil leaves, 4 garlic cloves, 1/2 c almonds (I've used pine nuts and walnuts before, but I had a bunch of almonds), s & p, and olive oil.  What is missing?  The parmesan cheese.  And, perhaps on pasta I could tell the difference, but grilled on chicken it just tasted goood.  I marinated the chicken (2 lbs) for about an hour in the sauce and then my husband grilled them. [Note that I had purchased scallopini chicken, but if I hadn't it would have made sense to pound and tenderize the chicken to best absorb the marinade.]

Grilled Yellow Squash
Peel squash and slice length-wise into good-sized "steaks" (so they are easier to work with on the grill).  Toss with olive oil and s & p.  Add to grill toward the end of the chicken cooking.  Done and done! 

Eggplant Sautee
1 TB olive oil
1 eggplant, peeled and diced
2-3 c diced fresh tomatoes (I had to use canned, organic, no-salt b/c I was out of tomatoes)
1 onion, diced
broth
s & p

Saute onions and salted eggplant in olive oil, adding broth as necessary to prevent burning, until eggplant is soft.  Add tomatoes and cook until heated through.  (The actual recipe calls for feta, which tastes awesome, but I just omitted it, which left the dish as a sweet balance to the garlicky chicken.  It also calls for garlic, but I didn't want to over-power the dinner with garlic, so I left it out.)  One child ate some of the chicken, but I'll be honest, he and his brother mostly ate the leftover pizza.  My husband had the chicken over pasta, which he shared w/ one child.  So, I'm still cooking several meals that somewhat over lap, sometimes.  One step at a time!

There's plenty left over for lunch, so this is really a great weekend meal!