3 nectarines down, 50 to go

Brace your self people, because the next few weeks I’m going to be making a ton of nectarine recipes.

I’m not exaggerating when I tell you how many we have.  And since I don’t want the kids to get sick of eating them plain, I’m trying to get a little more creative.  I already add them to oats, smoothies, and pancake batter…sooo…time to get savory!

On the left, a block of frozen solid chicken breasts straight from the freezer.  And on the right, the magic of the instant pot, chicken that took 20 seconds to shred.

And while I’m at it with the instant pot, I may as well use that leftover chicken broth to make the rice.  No washing required!

Boom, done and done.

When it comes to pesto, you do you, but I am ALL IN with this vegan kale, cashew & basil pesto from TJs.

Toss the chicken with ~1/2 cup pesto.  Then add the rice and mix again.

Chill it in the fridge and when it’s time to eat, and chopped nectarines and kale.

And pecorino romano or parmesan and DIG ON IN to this.

Did I mention I made it another day without going to the grocery store and still put this together!

Sometimes I think I should do these fridge challenges more often because it really does result in some tasty stuff.  I like cookbooks so much, but coming up with my own recipes is more rewarding.  And then when the kids ask for seconds and tell me they want it again another day…OH MY GOODNESS there is no better feeling.

Chicken and Nectarines with Pesto [gluten free, soy free]

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup brown rice + 2 cups liquid
• 1/2 cup pesto
• 3 nectarines
• 2 cups kale, destemmed and ripped up
• 1/3 cup shredded pecorino romano/parmesan

Directions:

Cook chicken breasts in 1/2 cup water and 1 tbsp olive oil, reserving the leftover liquid.  If you don’t have an instant pot, poach them in a large pot on the stove.

Once the chicken is cooked through, shred it and then cook the rice in the leftover liquid.  Depending on how much is left, you may not need all of it or you may need to add more water.

Toss the shredded chicken with the pesto and then add the rice once it’s done along with the kale (which will wilt from the hot rice).

At this point you can refrigerate it until you are ready to serve (and then add the nectarines and cheese).  If you aren’t making it ahead, you can simply add the remaining ingreds right away and dig in.

I think it would be good at any temp, but we ate it chilled.  It’s the perfect picnic or potluck option.

Mine had a little more kale because I heart kale more than anyone on Earth and I don’t even care if that’s the most cliche thing for a blogger to say, it’s trueeeee.  😉