Revitalizing Leftovers: Lemon Pepper Chicken & Shrimp Alfredo

Starting as a college student and now continuing through post-grad life, I’m conscious of reusing scraps from other meals. I looked in the fridge and found that I had shrimp angel hair pasta leftovers, and I hate it when my surplus pasta is not as creamy as the night before, so I looked for a way to re-hydrate it. Peeking into my fridge, I found thawed chicken breasts and voilà, the answer to re-hydrating my pasta.

The Chicken Marinade
2 chicken breasts – cubed
Rosemary and Basil flavored olive oil – or regular olive oil and basil
Lemon juice
Lemon cucumber flavored white balsamic vinegar
Healthy sprinkle of lemon pepper
Squirt of dijon mustard
Honey drizzle

Grab the two chicken breasts and dice them into bite sized pieces. Throw them into a small bowl and prepare to marinate with rosemary and basil olive oil (add fresh basil if desired), Lemon cucumber and white balsamic vinegar (or just your favorite white balsamic vinegar), lemon juice, honey drizzle, a healthy sprinkle of lemon pepper, and a squirt of dijon mustard. I started seasoning the chicken with a specialty salt from Salt at The Ritz Carlton in Amelia Island which added a smokey flavor; unfortunately, I forget the name of the flavor I have, so I included a picture of it below.

Stir the chicken so it’s completely coated in all ingredients. Let it marinate in the fridge while you prepare the broth that we’ll use to cook it and later mix with the shrimp alfredo leftovers. Flip your cutting board and prepare the vegetables for the broth. 

The Broth
2 cups chicken broth
1 spoonful pesto
1 spoonful green olive juice
1/4 cup milk – and maybe a splash more
1 Serrano pepper
1/2 yellow onion – I wanted to use leftovers I had
A little more lemon powder
4 garlic cloves
Shredded Italian blend cheese
Chard – optional

Pour 2 cups of chicken broth into a cast iron pan, followed by the pesto, olive juice, and milk. Dice 1 Serrano pepper very finely, as well as half a yellow onion. When the liquid is bubbling, sprinkle a little more lemon powder to taste and mash 4 garlic cloves into the mixture. Stir well and let that simmer for about 8 minutes, then add the pepper and onions. Leave everything alone for about 5 minutes so the flavors begin to fuse.

Once the onions are fragrant and soft, remove the chicken from the fridge and add it to the simmering broth. Keep the heat medium/high and let the chicken absorb all the flavors while it cooks. This broth is also beneficial because it keeps the chicken tender and moist in addition to acting as a revitalizing sauce. Occasionally stir everything, and don’t forget to twist your pan so the flame is distributed evenly. 

As the chicken cooked I grabbed my shrimp alfredo and started cutting off the tails of the shrimp since I didn’t do that the night before. When the chicken is done, simply spoon in the leftover pasta and make sure it gets coated in everything. I randomly grabbed some chard and Italian blend shredded cheese to add in. Chop the chard and add half chard, half cheese and stir, then use the rest as a garnish.

And there you have it, an entirely new weeknight meal but also taking care of leftovers!

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