Pesto Chicken... in a casserole of course!

I've realized that I make a lot of casseroles!  Not necessarily because I like my veggies mushy enough so I don't even have to chew- they don't come out that way all the time... I think sometimes it's just easy when you're cooking for friends to throw everything in a pan and walk away.  That gives you time to chat and drink I guess!

So this pesto chicken idea started with a package of pesto chicken pre-made from Trader Joe's- see I don't do all my shopping at Aldi.  The thing I realized about Trader Joe's pesto, this includes the pesto in the chicken and the pesto you can buy in a tub, TJ's pesto doesn't have pine nuts in it!  It's made with almonds, which is cheaper- why it's affordable, but it just isn't the same as when it does have pine nuts.  That's why you're going to add pine nuts to this dish!  Ironically, you're also going to add almonds.  Ok, here's what you need:

• The TJ's Pesto Chicken
• carrots
• spinach or green of your choice
• pine nuts
• slivered almonds
• extra pesto!

As simple as every casserole is, you're going to basically just dump all these ingredients in a pan.  There isn't a lot of extra pesto with the chicken when you buy it, that's why you need a little bit more to go on the veggies in here.  You could easily also include potatoes in this, or really any kind of veggies you happen to have at the time.  As for the nuts, the pine nuts are to help the pesto taste more like pesto, and the slivered almonds are for crunching!

You wanna put this in about a 375 degree oven for about 40 or 50 minutes.  The carrots won't turn to mush if you leave them in bigger chunks.  Uncover it at the end of the cook time.  Oh, did I mention to cover it when you put it in the oven?  This is very very pesto yummy!

Meow-appetite