Kale Pesto Chicken with Cauliflower Mash

To start off with, people must have been reading my heavy whipping cream post, because when I went to whole foods yesterday to pick up my favorite brand of cream they were all out!!  Also there was only 2 Jars left of my favorite Coconut Oil!  Glad everyone is enjoying my blog, I appreciate all the positive comments i've been getting in and outside of the gym about it.

I bought myself a gift yesterday, it was something i've been wanting for a while now and couldn't bring myself to buy it.  No not an iphone, not a mani/pedi, not the Tory Burch flats I want, not a great pair of new lulu lemon pants.  I bought myself a food processor !  My college friends would probably laugh in my face if I told them this was the present i've been wanting for a while now, 3 years ago my favorite gift was a 6 pack of Sam Summer Ale.  Alot has changed in the since I graduated from UMASS (although,  I would still love to be sitting on a beach with a 6 pack of Sam Summer.)
Back to the food..... So I am not a picky eater, at all, I will try anything once, and I usually like it.  There are just a few things that I just don't like no matter how good I know it is for me.  Kale is one of those things I just don't like.  I try and eat it once in a while because I know it is packed with nutrients but I feel like i'm forcing it down.  I saw this recipe for Kale Pesto on one of my favorite recipe sites Comfy Belly recipes .  I figured maybe if the Kale was in a pesto sauce and I put it on chicken I would be able to tolerate it better. I was right!  I will cut back on the garlic next time, garlic gives me instant heartburn, but the recipe will be good for you garlic lovers out there. I served the Kale Pesto Chicken with Cauliflower Mash.  I also got this Cauliflower Mash recipe from Comfy Belly recipes as well.  Of course I added a few of my own ingredients to both recipes.  You can check out the Comfy Belly Recipes here http://comfybelly.com/2011/02/kale-pesto/  and i'll post what I did below. 

WARNING: the picture below is yet another picture that looks kinda gross but it really is good!  If you are a pesto lover you know pesto looks pretty gross but still tastes yummy!

Kale Pesto:
-1 Medium Bunch Kale
-2 green onions
-1/2 cup olive oil - add more for a smoother texture- I used  mostly regular EVOO and some of the Oil from the jar of marinating sundried tomatoes.
-2 tbs Lemon
-2 cloves garlic ( I will use less next time, too much garlic for me = heartburn, but for you garlic LOVERS you can even add more)
**1/2 cup walnuts**
**1/4 cup sundried tomatoes ** You can get them already marinated in Oil and Garlic
*** 1 package baby portobella mushrooms***
-Sea salt for taste
the ingredients with *** are ingredients I added for my own  liking.  LOVE sundried tomatoes & mushrooms

Throw all ingredients EXCEPT mushrooms in the food processor and puree it all up.  I sauteed the mushrooms with a little bit of EVOO then added the pesto to it.  Since Pesto is really Oily, I grilled 4 chicken breasts(without any oil or marinade) then cut it up and added it to the pesto mushroom sauce.

Cauliflower Mash

About one head of Cauliflower ( I used two pre-cleaned/cut packages from whole foods)
2 tbs EVOO
1/4-1/2 cup warm water
3-4 tbs heavy whipping Cream- you can add more or less depending on the texture you want
sea salt for taste.

- Toss cauliflower in olive oil and add salt, put it on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.  Once out of oven put in food processor with water and cream.  You may want to use more or less cream or water depending on the texture you would like.  The recipe called for garlic, but as you noticed the pesto was garlicy enough for me. 

For those who can't stand Kale, this would be good with spinach and some basil as well.  I'm going to try that next time. Enjoy !