Chicken Pesto Lasagne and Grilled Romaine Salad

So I came home tonight with no clue as to what to make for dinner.  After working in a restaurant all day, 40 hours a week, you may think that I would be sick of food by now.  Actually, quite the opposite.  I enjoy making dinner for my family so much that its the moment of my day that I most look forward to.  Tonight was one of those nights though that I didnt even get an inkling of what to make until I was staring into my cupboards at 5:15.  So, I see lasagne noodles, canned tomatoes, a jar of pesto, some alfredo sauce, and I know I have chicken breasts in the freezer.  Voila!  Thawing out 2 chicken breasts while I mix up the sauce and before you know it I have the lasagne in the ovenQ!  Score 1 for Mom!!!

Chicken Pesto Lasagna

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 small jar of pesto sauce
1 jar of Alfredo sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
10 lasagna noodles2 cups shredded Italian cheese


Defrost chicken.  Then cut into small pieces and saute on the stove with a little pepper.  While that is cooking, preheat oven to 400.  In a mixing bowl combine Alfredo, pesto and tomatoes.  Lay out a thin layer of sauce in a medium sized corning ware dish.  Top with 3-4 noodles (break to fit).  Then a small layer of cheese and more noodles on top.  The next layer should be the chicken, sauce and more cheese.  Top with the last noodles and cover with the rest of the sauce, set aside the rest of the cheese to apply the last 10 minutes of cooking time.  Note: I never precook lasagna noodles.  The sauce cooks them for you, don't even bother buying the ones advertised as no-cook, they all work the same.  Put in the oven and start on your salad.  Cook for 1 hour.

Grilled Romaine Salad

1 head of romaine, cut in half
2 tomatoes
1 Walla Walla Sweet Onion
1/2 cup Feta Cheese
Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

Grill everything including the Romaine.  Put the onions on first, coating them with oil and vinegar, then the tomatoes, then the lettuce.  Grill until the onions are soft, the tomatoes are browned a bit and the lettuce is limp.  Cut all of them up and toss with the Feta and Oil and Vinegar.



Note: Feel free to improvise on any of these recipes.  The main thing that I want the reader to take away from this is inspiration.  Please don't feel like you cant recreate these recipes just because you may not have all the ingredients.  Cooking is fun and should be carefree.  Have fun!  :)