Grilled Lemon Herb Marinated Chicken Medallions w/ Tri-Color Veggie Alfredo

It was a beautiful bright and sunny day here most of the day after an overcast start to the morning. I worked on taxes all morning and got them done..."oh what a relief it is"!  :-)  We ran errands and got a few chores done around the house. We really need to get our spring cleaning started here next weekend. I decided to grill something for dinner since it was so pretty out. I had a couple of packs of boneless chicken breasts that needed to be used so I sliced them horizontally into medallions, seasoned them with sea salt and pepper, then covered them with plastic wrap and pounded them with my meat mallet until they were nice and thin (like scallopini). I simply placed them in a large Ziploc bag along with about 1/4 cup olive oil, the juice of 2 large lemons, the zest of 1 lemon, 2 crushed garlic cloves, about 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning and a little fresh rosemary. I sealed the air out and placed them in the fridge to marinate for about 4 hours.

Both of my sons came for dinner and I made the guys baked potatoes to go with their meal and made Tri-Color Veggie Alfredo for our vegetable. I used my julienne vegetable peeler to make strands of veggie pasta using zucchini, yellow summer squash and a carrot. The most important step I've found in making a non-watery veggie pasta is to spread and lay the pasta strands on paper towels and then lightly salt them, cover with more paper towels and let the salt pull the excess liquid out of the veggie pasta; occasionally pressing to blot the liquid out. I actually change the paper towels a couple times over about 20-30 minutes or so and lightly salt one more time. Believe it or not, the pasta isn't salty, mainly because the salt absorbs along with the liquid into the paper towels. I simply heat a tablespoon or 2 of olive oil and saute the veggie pasta for a few minutes and then add in some heavy cream, sun-dried tomato pesto, and finely grated Parmesan and toss it around until its lightly coated. It turned out fabulous. I snapped a couple photos for you to see below as well as my easy peasy recipe for the Tri-Color Veggie Alfredo. Enjoy!

Tri-Color Veggie Alfredo

Ingredients:

2 medium-large zucchini (about 7 to 8 inches long)
2 medium yellow summer squash (preferably straightneck because they are easier to julienne)
1 medium carrot
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan (more, if desired)
1 to 2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto, optional (my favorite is made by Mezzetta)
Sea salt

Directions:

Using a julienne peeler, Spirelli or spiral vegetable slicer, cut zucchini, squash and carrot into pasta strands. Spread pasta out on several paper towels and sprinkle evenly with salt (about 1/4 teaspoon or so). Cover with another layer of paper towels and gently press to help blot juices and liquid from the pasta. Let sit for about 10 to 15 minutes; change paper towels and lightly sprinkle with salt again. Let sit an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Press gently extracting as much liquid as possible.

Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Saute veggie pasta for about 4 or 5 minutes, stirring frequently, just until al dente; reduce heat to low-medium. In a small bowl, whisk cream and sun-dried tomato pesto together; pour over veggie pasta in skillet and toss with a rubber spatula until lightly coated (add additional cream, if necessary). Sprinkle grated Parmesan over top and toss until heated through and cheese melts into sauce. Serve immediately. Makes approximately 3 to 4 servings.