Arugula Pesto with grilled fish or chicken

This is largely a Rachael Ray recipe. Make the pesto, put it on fish or chicken before cooking. OR, you can just make the pesto and stir it into a nice angel hair pasta. To make it semi-healthy, we make a whole grain angel hair and then toss the pesto and the cooked pasta into a frying pan for a minute over medium heat.

Pan cooking the fish or chicken works well too, if you don’t have a grill running.

We don’t use a food processor, a small magic bullet or hand held Cooks food chopper works great. It will make enough for dinner for 4.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pistachios
• 1 cup packed fresh arugula leaves
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 lemon, juiced. Lime works too.
• 1 clove garlic, grated or minced
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 breasts of chicken pounded flat, or 3 mahi or grouper filets.

Directions

Heat a grill pan to high, or fire up your grill.

Toast the nuts lightly in small skillet over low heat, then add them to a food processor.

Add the arugula, basil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt and pepper, to taste, and pulse to combine.

With the processor on, stream in the extra-virgin olive oil to form thick pesto.

Lightly pound out the chicken, then rub all sides with the pesto, or coat the fish. Spray the grill or grill pan with cooking spray or rub with a little oil and grill the chicken or fish till done.