Simple Baked Chicken Pesto Bites
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Simple Baked Chicken Pesto Bites
Recipe and giveaway at the bottom of the page.
Chad and I attended Blended 2012 in Phoenix this January (our first blogging conference) is was a lovely get together and a fabulous way to meet others with the same passion as us and get to know some really great brands. There were a lot of door prizes and 2 HUGE swag bags full of goodies that we got to take home. One door prize that I had my eye on was a cooler of 11 organic herbs and spices.
Seriously, I use herbs like crazy. I eat them so often that I actually eat them to death {{sob}}. Needless to say neither Chad nor I were the lucky winner of that prize. {{drats!}} Well much to my surprise I was contacted by Gourmet Garden a few days later. They wanted to ship me that cooler! REALLY??!?! OK. So 2 days later I received that very cold cooler VIA Fed Ex with 11 impressive herbs and spices inside.
It was really like Christmas. Like any excited 8 year old I had completely researched Gourmet Garden and knew all about them, their process and the herbs and spices I was going to be receiving. {{Obsess much? Nah, not me!}} A company that prides itself on convenient Organic products without sacrificing quality… Sounds like a match made in heaven for TSRI. We work hard to bring you simple meals; making meals fast and easy using real ingredients.
Well I used these fabulous herbs and spices in just about every dish you can imagine. Crock pot dishes, skillets, pasta bakes, salad dressings, beverages (what? Yep!) and so much more. I even made pesto with the Gourmet Garden Basil. Seriously. Have you ever tried to find basil in February? Well, that is how these Simple Baked Chicken Pesto Bites came to be. A readily available supply of scrumptious pesto from my fridge and a family clamoring for the next best chicken nugget.
I created a fabulous basil dipping sauce with Gourrmet Garden Basil and Garlic then quickly infused the dipping sauce into the chicken, breaded it, baked it and DEVOURED it! Oh.my.word!! This is incredible. Moist, flavorful and yummy on the inside. Perfectly crispy and delicious on the outside. Even Chad was blown away… and my picky 3 year old is NUTS for these ‘presto nuggets and presto dippin’ sauce’. Can hardly beat that… Except I served them with cheesy broccoli and she ate every last bite. SCORE!
So, needless to say when Gourmet Garden asked if we would like to share their products with you it was a no brainer. I am hooked! In a world where convenience is king and quality reins supreme is it nearly a miracle to find a company that can bring you both.
I am so excited to announce that we will be giving away a Gourmet Garden cooler packed with 11 fabulous herbs and spices delivered straight to your door! Really. Fed Ex will show up with a cold cooler full of these fantastic herbs and spices.
They last for 3 months in the fridge and 6 months in the freezer, you can’t beat that with a stick. So, I suggest that you scroll down to the Rafflecopter widget (at the bottom of the page) and enter this giveaway. Really. Hurry!
Sadly, I can not give everyone a cooler. However… You can find these magnificent product right in the produce department of your local super center. Score! Found mine at Wal-Mart right next to the parsley bunches.
Dinner’s Ready!
With love from our kitchen table to yours! XO
Simple Baked Pesto Chicken Bites
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup Gourmet Garden Basil, or 1 bunch fresh basil, leaves only
- 1/4 cup almonds
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 2 tablespoons olive oil + more for spraying/drizzling, extra virgin
- 1 teaspoon Gourmet Garden Garlic, or 1-2 cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, fresh ground, divided
- 1 cup corn flakes, crushed
- 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- To create pesto sauce: Combine sour cream, basil, almonds, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a food processor or blender. Blend until mostly smooth. Reserve 1 cup in a small serving bowl. Pour remaining pesto into a medium size bowl.
- Cut chicken into bite size pieces. Place chicken into pesto stir to coat chicken completely. Set aside.
- In a medium size mixing bowl combine bread crumbs, corn flakes 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mix to combine.
- Prepare baking sheet by covering in aluminum foil and spraying with olive oil. Use an oil mister or drizzle oil over pan. Set aside.
- One piece at a time place chicken into bread crumb mixture. Toss to coat and gently pat crumbs onto chicken. Place chicken on baking sheet and repeat until all chicken is breaded.
- Spray chicken with olive oil mister (propellant free) or drizzle very lightly with oil. Bake for 12-15 minutes until chicken is golden brown.
- Serve with remaining pesto sauce. Enjoy!
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
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One winner will receive a soft sided cooler with 11 Gourmet Garden Herbs and Spices delivered to your door. Enter below VIA Rafflecopter. Only open to residents of the USA. Entries closed at 11:55pm PST 4/11/13. Winner will be posted on 4/12/13.
6 Chances to Win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
GIVEAWAY CLOSED
I have not tried Gourmet Garden yet-but will look for them at WalMart.
My favorite herb, hands down, is basil. and then thyme.
I will try your chicken pesto recipe this week.
I made the mint oreo trifle yesterday and it was a big winner at our Sunday dinner!
I always have a tube of Gourmet Garden Ginger in the fridge. Love it! Thanks for the opportunity!
I would like very much to try these herbs and spices. I do love to cook Italian food, of course being one of my favorite kind of foods to cook.
It would be very nice to win these herbs and spices, to also try in other dishes as well.
Thank you for the chance of being to try to win this give-a-way.
I've eyed this product in the store….glad to hear they are great!
Love their ginger. Great for a quick stir fry!
I'd have to say I have a 3-way tie for my favorite herb between basil, thyme and dill. Thanks for the chance to win! Love your recipes too!
Basil and ginger are my fave!!! Looking forward to trying all of them!
New product to me, but I'd have to go with basil.
I LOVE the cilantro……it saves me from buying it fresh and throwing away half of the bunch because I can't use it all.
Thanks so much for doing this giveaway!
I love cooking with fresh herbs! Here in the cold weather land in which I live, it's hard to get fresh herbs through the winter. Luckily our loal grocery store does carry small packets throughout the year. However, I can easily use an entire pack with the preparation of one meal. At $2-3 a package, that can easily add up. I've tried growing herbs in my windowsill throughout the winter but they never last! I would be very interested to see how these "Gourmet Garden" herbs stack up against my fresh herbs! Thanks for the opportunity! JoEllen H.
My favorite Gourmet Garden flavor so far is the basil. In the winter, when my herb garden is not available, the basil is perfect for everything I want to cook. These products are the BEST!
I have never heard of Gourmet Garden but will look in my store for them.
I haven't tried these yet, looking forward to it though. I use garlic so much, that will probably be my favorite. Although it could just possibly be the Italian Herb. lol 😀 can't wait to try this chicken bites recipe, it looks delicious.
i like GOURMET GARDEN'S ginger and the chili pepper….be cool to win and try all the others, especially your pesto chicken! we're all pesto fiends haha [email protected]
Looks like a great product!
I would love to try out the Ginger!
Will have to look the next time I'm at Walmart for these, would so love to win this cooler pack
Italian herbs
Love rosemary
I love the Basil and the Chili pepper. They are both frequently used in our cooking!
OMGosh love the chili pepper!!!!!!!!!!!
I would love to try these!
I have not tried any of these at Walmart but my favorite, misrepresented herb is dill. 🙂 – Karen
Chili paste or ginger. Both are"a dab will do ya" but give great flavor!
I Love the Slow Roasted Italian — I always get great new recipes to try.