What's for dinner? Parsley from the Herb Garden

I washed, chopped and used the first fruits of my garden today!  Well, don't get too excited.  It was just an herb.  Parsley.  It was all flopped over from growing so big and I came across a Spicy Grilled Pesto Chicken recipe in my Kroger coupons mailer.  (I know, it's called Pesto but the main ingredient is parsley.)

Here's the recipe that is marinating in the fridge right now:

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp. pesto sauce
• 1 large resealable food storage bag
• 1-1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, thawed
• (approximately 4 medium to large thighs)

• Wash and de-stem parsley. (Wash by soaking in a bowl for 1-3 minutes and then transfer to another bowl to soak.  If sandy in the bottom, repeat 2-3 more times with fresh water.)  
• Chop parsley in the food processor for about 30 seconds.  (I thought this would be a pain but it was the quickest part and a lot less messy than mincing on a cutting board.)
• Combine the well-chopped parsley with the ground pepper, Worcestershire sauce and pesto in a large resealable plastic bag.  Mix the ingredients well by squeezing the closed bag with your hands.
• Add thawed chicken, one piece at a time, into the bag, making sure to coat each piece thoroughly.  Marinage chicken in bag for 15-30 minutes at room temperature or in the fridge.
• Remove pieces with tongs and grill for about 12-15 minutes, turning once, until the internal temperate reaches a safe 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

We are going to have this with homemade pasta salad:

• Cook spiral tri-colored pasta noodles al dente and rinse to stop cooking process and cool them.
• Add whatever you want, but here is what we added:
• Green and Orange bell pepper cut into bite size chunks.
• Grape tomatoes (not cut)
• Half an English seedless cucumber sliced
• Salami chunks
• Grated mozzarella cheese
• (Would have added green olives if we had them)
• Italian Salad Dressing (we cheated today as we usually make our own)
• (I diluted the dressing with some olive oil because I thought it tasted too strong.  I added a little bit of salt.)  I think the dressing makes or breaks a pasta salad.  We shall see what we think about Kraft Lite Italian tonight after it has marinated in the salad for a few hours.  

For Dessert I made a frozen yogurt and fruit yummy:

• Plain Greek Yogurt and a few scoops of vanilla yogurt (2-3 cups total)
• Two Tbsp. honey
• Raspberries (whole)
• Strawberries (sliced)
• 2 bananas (sliced)
• (I would have added blueberries but none on hand)

I stirred it all up in and dished it out to five smaller bowls and covered them with plastic wrap and placed them in the freezer.  Dave came up with this idea, but I also saw it in a magazine recently.  They pureed the fruit and made yogurt popcicles.)

Can't wait to eat dinner tonight!  Then, I need to trellis my sugar snap peas tonight.  They are trying to vine on each other.  It's too hot to work outside during the day.  I will explain what I did Monday in another post.