Pesto Chicken with Artichoke

I ended up making a pretty gourmet lunch today. It was mostly re-arranging some leftovers but it came together very nicely. The other day at the store I saw artichokes that looked really awesome. When I was a kid mom used to make artichokes for us and she taught us how to peel off the leaves one by one, dip them into a butter sauce and then pull them between your teeth for the one small bite that was at the base of each leaf. It's a lot of work, but it is worth it because it is so good. To make the artichoke, just put some water in a pan and steam the artichoke for 25-35 minutes or until the leaves pull off very easily. The butter sauce I did today was super simple, melted ghee (clarified butter) with balsamic vinegar and salt. Lemon juice is extraordinary with artichokes but I didn't have any lemons.

For the chicken, I used a left over chicken breast. I've been buying chicken on the bone lately and brining them in a salt water solution overnight in the refridgerator. The next day, I just salt & pepper them, rub a bit of olive oil on the skin and bake on a cookie sheet that has a rack until they are done. Today, I cut off some of the meat from one of the breasts and topped it with some leftover pesto. My basil was plentiful this year, so I made a large batch of pesto and put it in ice cube trays. That way I can take out however much I want at any given time. I thawed the pesto out, crumbled some feta, added a sundried tomato and some kalamata olives and had a feast. I hope you try something similar soon, because this was very tasty!
-Amanda