Friday, August 13, 2010

Garden Pesto Grilled Chicken

Since my herb garden has been growing out of control, I decided that the most logical thing would to make homemade pesto.  After all, that's why people plant fresh herb gardens, right?


Garden Pesto
about 3/4 cup basil  
3 sprigs marjarom  
2 sprigs lemon thyme
splash of raspberry vinegar
dash of sea salt
olive oil

Rinse all the herbs and put them in a blender/food processor, I used my handy handheld stick blender (I love that thing!).  Add just enough olive oil to cover half the herbs.  Blend until all the herbs are blended together into a paste.  Add the salt and raspberry vinegar.  Slowly drizzle in more olive oil by the tablespoonful and blend until you get a creamy consistency (like a creamy salad dressing).  And you've got pesto!  To store this, I froze individual pesto cubes in ice cube trays and then kept them in a freezer bag.

I marinated some skinless chicken thighs in the pesto for about 1 hour and then cooked them on the grill for dinner that night.  The meat got a good sear and was packed full of fresh herbalicous flavor.  Yums.  I love my little garden.

Garden Pesto Grilled Chicken Thighs