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Baked chicken tops spiralized squash with a homemade walnut pesto in this Walnut Pesto Chicken Summer Squash. A simple 30-minute, healthy meal that’s delicious!
I swear this week better be good to me. The last two have been trying! It all started when my herbs died when I was in Chicago for three days and the temps went from 88 to 115 and no one was here to water them.
I swear I will never be able to grow anything, but I’m going to keep trying! Then the coolant system went out in my car. Thank goodness for the warranty!
Then my director informed me they were pulling swim instructors from the June schedule who didn’t have advanced CPR and that included me.
But in order for me to take the class, they needed to offer one which they hadn’t since February. Is it worth mentioning I am already CPR certified? This class has been a thorn in my side since the day I started.
Technically, they’re not supposed to schedule you if you don’t have all certification classes. Despite that, they scheduled me for three months. Oh yeah, and they tried paying me less for not having the class too.
Tomorrow there’s finally a class (like I was informed yesterday) so hopefully, next month I can teach again. If I didn’t love instructing so much, I wouldn’t bother with this. It’s just wrong to treat people that way.
On the bright side, it’s been nice having a month “off” to catch up on things. I’ve been taking full advantage cooking a lot of recipes, and this walnut pesto chicken summer squash was one of the first things I got my hands into! It’s packed with fresh and wholesome ingredients.
Originally this dish started out as vegetarian. I’d eat it raw or cooked for lunch or dinner.
Then one night I was scrounging for dinner and needed more than the pesto zoodles so I paired it with baked chicken for a little extra protein, and that’s how walnut pesto chicken summer squash was born!
The walnut pesto is the star of the show bursting with its creamy, vibrant flavors. You can never go wrong mixing spinach and basil together in a pesto and I used walnuts for more depth and omega-3’s.
Feel free to swap with pine nuts or another nut. Brazil nuts or hazelnuts would be amazing in this too!
As you can see, the options are endless for customizing this walnut pesto chicken summer squash! The best part is it takes less than 30-minutes to pull the entire meal together.
As much as I love to cook, I love quick and easy meals more! And it’s light, yet hearty and filling. A perfect summertime (or anytime hehe) meal!
Walnut Pesto Chicken Summer Squash
Ingredients
For the Pesto:
- 1/2 cup walnuts, raw
- 3 cups basil leaves, fresh
- 1 cup spinach
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, or nutritional yeast for dairy free
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Squash & Chicken:
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 6 cups summer squash, 4 medium squash
- 4 slices lemon
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Add chicken breast to a glass baking dish, sprinkle salt & pepper on it and top each with a lemon slice.
- Place in the oven and bake 20-25 minutes until completely baked through. While the chicken is baking, spiralize the squash noodles and set aside.
- Then add the ingredients for the pesto to a food processor or blender and blend on high until the pesto is smooth.
- Heat a skillet to medium heat, add half the pesto the skillet then the squash then the remainder of the pesto. Using a tongs, coat all the squash with the pesto about 2-3 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and plate the squash in a bowl with the baked chicken and lemon and sprinkle with red chili peppers.
Notes
- For leftovers, store chicken and squash pesto in separate containers.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
PESTOOOOOO. Sending good vibes your way! One of my class schedules was just screwed up too. This is why I only want to work for myself FOREVER. I won’t mess myself up 🙂
Same here! It’s so much easier when you only have to depend on yourself.
I love your walnut pesto!
Seeing as I’m into spiralizing virtually everything in site at the moment, this has come in at the right time Megan.
Thanks! 😀
Perfect timing for you! What did we ever do without spiralizers?
This looks ABSOLUTELY delicious! I need to get on the pesto train, I had some the other day at my friends house and I forgot how much I love it! Thanks for sharing and inspiring me xo C
Thanks Courtney! Pesto is so easy to make but I always seem to forget about it. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Sorry to hear about the rough week. Hopefully the class works out. If not I love the folks at Desert Education. They have a ton of availability for all CPR and advanced classes and the instructor is so nice. I have to renew my certifications by Jan and will probably come back and do them with her. I’ve taken the classes for years and they were the best. Hands Down! Good luck tomorrow!
I can’t take just any advanced CPR class. I have to take THEIRS which is what’s so frustrating about it because they have not offered a class. I’m already CPR certified but I need to have their certification.
This sounds so amazingly delicious! I love finding new ways to use the vegetable spiralizer! The combo of walnuts and pesto would be so good. Thank you so much for sharing
Thanks Amanda! Hope you like it.
I literally love EVERYTHING you used in this dish! Squash noodles are the jam! This looks so fresh and fabulous! Absolutely perfect for summer! Cheers and thanks for sharing the YUM!
Thank you for that Cheyanne! And girl…I don’t know what I’d do without my spiralizer. What did we ever do without them?
Sorry it’s been a rough couple of weeks, but these photos are beautiful and the recipe sounds delicious!! I need to try a walnut pesto!
What goes down must come up, right? I just needed to vent!
I’m sorry your week wasn’t great…here’s to better things coming up this week! That dish looks amazing…I’m definitely adding it to my list of recipes to try. I absolutely love squash!!
Thanks girl! Let me know if you try it and how you like it.
that pesto! is it wrong to make that a meal? haha kidding. so good with summer squash noodles. Love it! and no grilling HAHA HOTTTTTTTTTT! ugh.
I could get on board with that! OMG it was 121 here yesterday. Breaking all sorts of records.