Greek Grilled Chicken with Spinach Pesto and "whatever's-in-the-fridgesuccotash"

So, I just drove across NY state. Was back in my hometown for the weekend for a friend's birthday. It was a wine tour so clearly it was awesome! However it is still a bit of a long drive and my motivation for cooking was pretty low by the time I got home with a rumbly tummy. *BUT* I did have to cook off some chicken for home made pizza this week so into the kitchen I went. The chicken is going on whole wheat pizza dough with the spinach pesto from the title, along with goat cheese and red inions. Probably a little drizzle of lemon juice too, just for the fresh zip.

For the chicken I just seasoned a package of chicken tenders I got the other day with a greek garlic seasoning blend from a friends all natural herbal shop. (www.valleyoffieldherbals.com if you want to experience the deliciousness as well!) Then I also prepped the spinach pesto which I did a post on awhile back. Check it out here.

By now things were smelling good and I was hungry. But I didn't want to go through the trouble of making a whole pizza just for me. Ok I really just didn't wanna go through the trouble, I am beat from all the travel! I had chicken, and I had a sauce, I really just needed some kind of veggie. Now, this might not seem like such an issue normally but the hubby and I have been traveling almost more than we have been home because of work. So having a lot of groceries on hand really hasn't been an option lately.

After a quick glance around my sparsely stocked fridge I emerged with a small zucchini, carrots, and a red onion. That works! It became my "whatever-is-in-the-fridge succotash. I shredded up the carrot, julienned the zucchini, and sliced up the onion and simply sautéed it with salt and pepper while the chicken cooked. Toss it on a plate with the pesto and some feta cheese and voila a little one person dinner is made!

It was tasty. And garlic-y. Yes, I added garlic to the pesto AND the veggies, because I love garlic. A LOT. Also, my husband doesn't mind garlic breath. That kind of rocks! Hope you enjoyed hearing about my random and lazy dinner! Just goes to show that healthy and fresh meals don't have to be hard. Happy eating friends!

Onion dip (soup) mix

Onion soup mix. Its like a party staple because, let's be honest, who actually makes soup with it? But add it to sour cream and mayo and bust out the potato chips and everyone goes wild! Well, I know I do... mmm onion dip.

Anyway, in the theme of making classic seasoning mixes sans all the preservatives and additives. Not to mention saving on all that packaging, and saving money! I would like to note that normally I would make this recipe with some kind of bullion, but I didn't for two reasons. 1) I couldn't find the organic natural veggie bullion I like at the store (just found the paste kind and that wouldn't work). 2) I liked the idea of trying to duplicate a "soupy" flavor just using spices and seasonings. I wanted to use veggie bullion so this recipe would be vegetarian friendly, but you can totally sub in a brand of beef bullion that you like for something more like the stuff from the packet!

Alright here are the ingredients:

2/3 cup chopped dehydrated onion

1/3 cup granulated bullion

      (in this case I used a mixture of cumin, curry powder, chicken seasoning blend, garlic salt, pepper, 

        parsley, and a dash of dill adding up to about a 1/3 of a cup)

4 tsp onion powder

1/4 cup crushed celery seed

Toss them all in a bowl:

Then mix it all up!

That was easy! If you used the regular bullion you CAN use this to make soup if you want 5 tbsp equals about one of those little packets.

Now, if you want to make dip here we go: Mix together one 16oz container sour cream,

About 1/3 cup mayo

I just use a big ole spoonful:

And the 5 tbsp of mix:

Let it sit in the fridge for a little while before serving with some kind of awesome potato chips! I like cape cod original chips, they are AWESOME. I actually got to go to their factory and do the little tour on my honeymoon. They have some really cool flavors in their gift shop!

Alright friends, enjoy the dip (or soup, hehe) and happy eating!