Valentine’s Day was pretty great. I got to do a wod that crushed my soul. Then I went to my esthetician to get my face worked on since I knew I was definitely not going to be around any men on Vday. Gotta love paying $150 for 3 hours of pure torture. It makes sense. Well it kinda does since my face looks better than it ever has. Not great, but better. F
Effing acne. YOU ARE SO INCONVENIENT AND STUPID.
Anywho, I then proceeded on to eat stupid amounts of chocolate, no seriously, stupid amounts. My girlfriend Sarah made Laura and I paleo truffles. I slightly hate her for that. There were 5 huge ones and they are all gone now. Laura has 4 left. Hence our body composition difference. F*ckin chocolate. You make me feel so ashamed at times.
Then we got to watch Twilight Breaking Dawn. I love Twilight. Seriously though. I read all the books. It’s seriously so addicting. At any age. Oh don’t worry bros, I can’t hear you right now, talking sh*t about how dumb Twilight is. How Vampire and Werewolves are stupid mythical creatures. But you guys like sports. And sports are dumb. So suck it.
But us women like Twilight because it gives us hope that there is a man out there who will adore us as much as Edward and Jacob adore Bella. Is that too much to ask?? Sh*t no it’s not. A man who literally cannot take his eyes of us. A man who will do anything just to be around us. Now that’s wiiiiiiicked cool.
How many people do you think got engaged on Vday? So cliche.
I’ve figured something out. Doing laundry sucks ass. Like pretty bad. You know why? Because all my clothes are lululemon spandex and CrossFit shirts. And what in the f*ck would I do if any of those things shrunk?! I can barely pull my spandex over my ass without hearing the threads tear in my lulus…so if they shrunk….jesus. So I literally have to hang dry 93% of my clothes. That’s a lot of time spent in my basement with hangers, creepy lighting, and cold cement floors. I hate having cold feet. And lighting that emphasizes my flaws. I wish mood lighting traveled with me everywhere I went.
Pistachio Pesto Chicken Pasta
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium spaghetti squash, halved, seeds and excess threads removed
- 1/2–2/3lbs chicken, sliced or cubed
- 1 cup pistachios, unsalted and shelled
- 1–1 1/2 cup basil leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2–1 cup olive oil
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste
- handful of sundried tomatoes, sliced, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut your spaghetti squash in half, lengthwise, use a spoon to scoop out the excess seeds and place open side down on a baking sheet and cook for 20-25 minutes or until spaghetti squash is soft to the touch.
- While your spaghetti squash cooks, put your pistachios in a food processor and pulse.
- Then add your garlic cloves and basil and turn food processor on.
- While food processor is still on, add your olive oil slowly until your pesto becomes your preference of “thickness” and then add your lemon juice.
- Now heat up a large skillet under medium heat with a couple tablespoons of olive oil in it. Add your chicken to the skillet along with some salt and pepper and cook chicken on both sides until almost cooked through, then add your pesto to the pan.
- Coat chicken in pesto.
- When your spaghetti squash is done cooking and has cooled a bit, use a fork to pull the threads out of the spaghetti squash and place directly into your pesto and chicken pan.
- Combine all together.
- Add to a bowl, top with some leftover chopped pistachios and sundried tomatoes!
- Consume!
I just found this recipe because it was mentioned in the comments of your most recent blog and… “OMG! I am sooo trying this!” I am a HUGE fan of pesto and this sounds like an incredible alternative to the traditional method. Thank you, Juli!
Hi Juli! I know this post is really old and so you may not see this, but I have lately fallen in love with your blog; writing style, your attitude, and of course your food! I’m totally making the no-cheese cheesecake for Thanksgiving this year 🙂
Also, wanted to say that I have always *gulp* machine dried my lulu and never had any problems with in. I have one pair of crops that I’ve worn once or twice a week in my gymwear rotation for almost 18 months and I just clean and dry them like my normal clothes, no worse for the wear. Not sure if that’s the best thing to do to them but there you go! 😉
I do see you Lissa!! And I do machine dry my lulus too now haha i got lazy!
This was my first foray into cooking spaghetti squash, and YUM. The pesto was delicious. I love how you write your recipes; so easy to follow! Kudos on an amazing blog 🙂
Great recipe! Found your site today and I can’t wait to make the next meal. First time eating/preparing spaghetti squash too! Might be done with pasta…Thanks!
Amazingly delicious. Perfect meal on a cool afternoon. I can’t imagine this anyone not loving this dish, the flavors are very well rounded. VERY filling.
Please don’t judge me I’m new at this!! Shelled pistachios? Or unshelled? I know it says shelled but maybe I’m a little slow and am misinterpreting unsalted and shelled lol. Btw, thanks for making my new paleo lifestyle amazingggg!
I used pistachios that were in the shell because then there was no salt added to them. if you can find them outside of the shell, no salt added, then get that!
Only had salted ones so I rinsed them under water to get some of the salt off.Ran out anyways and had to mix with macadamians
so juli… are pistachios paleo? i love them as a snack and am certain because i love them so much, they are probably not good for me since that’s how it always seems to go…
I had a big ol spaghetti squash to use so I started making Creamy Pumpkin Chicken casserole but after cutting up some cauliflower and dressing it I cut open the squash to find it had gone bad :(. My other choice was this recipe so made this and had it on the roasted cauliflower instead of spaghetti squash and it was GREAT!
New to this whole paleo thang but your recipes had made me a convert. THANK YOU!!!!!
Juli!
Its that time of year when you’re so busy cooking stuff for everyone else you don’t really want to cook for yourself. You have a lot of great, easy recipes so I dug this beauty up, sooood good! love pistachios!
HI Juli,
I just came across your website and really love it! But I just want to know do you just cook all day long?! How do you do all this. I am a mom of 2 and work full time and I can’t figure out how you do this. I am also NOT a chef by any stretch of the imagination! I am trying this recipe tonight after going to the gym. My husband and I are trying to eat healthier and lose weight and we just heard about the paleo thing last week. I am all IN!
Anyway, Thank you for your great advice!