Pesto Chicken Salad

Pesto is one of those unique foods that is simply amazing. It makes sense once you consider the ingredients: basil, garlic, toasted pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and extra virgin olive oil. Now puree all of that together and you have creamy goodness.

In this recipe (my variation on Sara Foster's recipe in The Foster's Market Cookbook) I actually made a pesto vinaigrette. Starting with basic pesto, I added lemon juice, rice wine vinegar, white wine, extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt and ground black pepper, which resulted in a slightly thinner consistency better suited for a chicken salad. I then mixed this vinaigrette with shredded grilled chicken breast, parmesan cheese, toasted pine nuts and walnuts, basil, and baby arugula and served it over a bed of warm pasta.

Delicious.

This dish is very versatile. I love this salad served over a bed of pasta as I did tonight, but it can easily be used as a filling for a delicious sandwich. It is also just as good cold as it is hot.