PESTO BAKED CHICKEN WITH PARMESAN CAULIFLOWER & ZUCCHINI MINT SALAD
Nov 01, 2017I realised it has been a while since I have shared a recipe that includes meat on the blog! This was not intentional but does reflect our effort to include more vegetarian based meals into our diet. Although I believe meat provides plenty of nutrition for us and can have it's place in a balanced diet, I do know that many Aussies eat far too much of it. So here is a very simple yet delicious meal that shows how meat should be considered a condiment to a plate full of colourful vegetables!
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 x chicken schnitzel fillets (or 2 breast fillets sliced and pounded to even thickness)
4 tablespoons of homemade or all natural pesto
½ large cauliflower, cut into florets
4 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan cheese
1 large zucchini, grated, liquid squeezed out
4 handfuls of rocket
1 handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
1 long red chilli, finely sliced
4 tablespoons of pine nuts, toasted (optional)
Dressing: Juice of ½ lemon and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180⁰C and line baking tray with baking paper. Spread the cauliflower on half of the tray, sprinkle with the parmesan, drizzle with some EVOO and bake for 30 minutes or until browning. Spread a tablespoon of pesto over each chicken fillet and in the final 15 minutes of the cauliflower cooking, add the fillets to the other side of the tray and bake until cooked through.
Meanwhile, combine the zucchini, rocket, chilli, mint and pine nuts. Drizzle with EVOO and squeeze over the lemon juice. Serve the zucchini salad with baked cauliflower and pesto chicken. 
