Overcome Your Gut + Digestive Issues With Ancestral Nutrition
High Protein Grilled Veggie and Chicken Pesto Pasta
This pasta dish is great served warm at home, yet it also makes an excellent togo meal. Something that will still be good the next day to take with you on a nice hike, to work, or to school. This would also be a great recipe to bring to a potluck or a BBQ.
I think thats what makes it a perfect dish for people who want to eat healthy without feeling so restricted. This dish is high in nutrients and you still get to eat pasta!
Another note for this recipe; I give you the option to use either boneless skinless chicken breast or bone in chicken breast with skin. When I first started cooking chicken, I always used the boneless skinless. However recently I’ve really been enjoying the bone in chicken breast with skin.
There are two main reasons for this. One, I can save the bones to make bone broth and two in my experience it makes the chicken more tender and moist and we definitely don’t want dry chicken! I still remove the skin after, just because it’s very fatty and high in calories. There is nothing wrong with the skin, in fact eating the skin has it’s own unique health benefits. For me personally, it doesn’t meet my macros so most of the time I chose not to eat it.
Another note, I’t can be a little difficult to get the right amount of chicken since the weight of the bones varies, so I usually just ask for a little more than how much meat I want. For this recipe, I recommend asking for 1.5 lbs of bone in chicken breast with skin to yield about 1.33 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast.
Anyways I hope you enjoy this recipe and I hope it brings you and your family health and happiness.
With love from my kitchen to yours,
Kayley
High Protein Grilled Veggie and Chicken Pesto Pasta
AuthorKayley O'BrienPreheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Season chicken breast with salt and pepper and place skin side up on a baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes on a rack in the middle of the oven.
The chicken is done when the temperature of the thickest part reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit (It will raise to the recommended temperature of 165 in the rest time) or when a cut produces clear juices, cook longer if the juices are red or pink. Once done, remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Test this chicken method
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a covered boil over high heat. Once boiling, remove lid, add pasta, and cook for about 12 minutes. You can test for doneness by removing a piece with a fork, running it under cold water, and tasting it. If it's too firm and chewy, it needs more time. If it’s soft yet firm and to your liking, it’s done. Once done, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, prepare the veggies. Mix all veggies in a bowl with oil, salt, and pepper (I usually use my hands for this). Then heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. No need to add oil to the pan since you added it to the veggies. Once the pan is hot, add as many veggies as you can without them overlapping (see picture above). If you have a small pan like me, you may need to cook your veggies in a few batches.
Flip veggies when they start to brown, and cook till slightly chard and soft. The veggie’s cooking time varies, so flip and remove from pan as they are ready. When veggies are done, cut them into smaller pieces and transfer to a bowl.
Once the chicken has cooled, remove bones and cut into bite sized chunks.
In a large bowl combine chicken, pasta, veggies, olives, feta, and pesto. Mix well, distribute amongst 2 plates or tupperwares, serve, and enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Season chicken breast with salt and pepper and place skin side up on a baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes on a rack in the middle of the oven.
The chicken is done when the temperature of the thickest part reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit (It will raise to the recommended temperature of 165 in the rest time) or when a cut produces clear juices, cook longer if the juices are red or pink. Once done, remove from oven and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Test this chicken method
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a covered boil over high heat. Once boiling, remove lid, add pasta, and cook for about 12 minutes. You can test for doneness by removing a piece with a fork, running it under cold water, and tasting it. If it's too firm and chewy, it needs more time. If it’s soft yet firm and to your liking, it’s done. Once done, drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, prepare the veggies. Mix all veggies in a bowl with oil, salt, and pepper (I usually use my hands for this). Then heat a grill pan or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. No need to add oil to the pan since you added it to the veggies. Once the pan is hot, add as many veggies as you can without them overlapping (see picture above). If you have a small pan like me, you may need to cook your veggies in a few batches.
Flip veggies when they start to brown, and cook till slightly chard and soft. The veggie’s cooking time varies, so flip and remove from pan as they are ready. When veggies are done, cut them into smaller pieces and transfer to a bowl.
Once the chicken has cooled, remove bones and cut into bite sized chunks.
In a large bowl combine chicken, pasta, veggies, olives, feta, and pesto. Mix well, distribute amongst 2 plates or tupperwares, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition:
| Ingredients | Cals | Fat | Carbs | Protein |
| 1.33 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (weight for raw) | 990 | 21.5g | 0g | 185g |
| 3 cups pasta (190g) | 714 | 3.4g | 149.6g | 23.8g |
| 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (220g) | 40.1 | 0.4g | 8.5g | 1.9g |
| 2 small bell peppers (200gt) | 56 | 0.1g | 13.3g | 1.8g |
| 2 onions (200g) | 88.1 | 0.4g | 20.4g | 2.8g |
| 2 1/4 cup sliced crimini mushrooms (160g) | 34.2 | 0.2g | 6.7g | 4g |
| 2 tsp avocado oil | 86.5 | 9.3g | 0g | 0g |
| 17 kalamata olive (50g) | 106.6 | 11g | 2.8g | 0.3g |
| 1/2 cup feta cheese (70g) | 175 | 10g | 5g | 15g |
| 5 tbsp pesto | 300 | 30g | 5g | 5g |
| total (5 servings) | 2,624.5 | 85.5g | 394.9g | 239.6g |
| 1 serving (1/5th of total) | 524.9 | 17.1g | 79g | 47.9g |
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Notes:
- Nutrition is based on the products I use. I provide a nutrition table so that you can quickly check to see if your food products match or so that you can easily calculate the nutrition for any changes you want to make to the recipe. I think this helps if you have very specific diet goals and/or fitness and/or health goals. I also wanted you to be able to see exactly where I get the numbers for my nutrition facts so that you can see that they are reliable and learn more about macro breakdowns of food.
- Also I only calculate 2 tsp of oil even though I use 1 tbsp and 1 tsp because a lot of the oil gets stuck to the pan
Works Cited
2. “Nutrition Label of feta cheese.” Organic Valley, La Farge, WI, 2019.
3. “Nutrition Label of oil.” Chosen Foods, San Diego, CA, 2019.
4. “Nutrition Label of pasta.” Monte Bello, Italy, 2019.
5. “Nutrition Label of pesto.” De Cecco, Italy, 2019.
About Kayley
Kayley is a certified gut health nutrition coach who helps people to overcome their chronic gut and digestive issues at the root using the principles of ancestral nutrition and holistic health. (Continue Reading Here)
