Cooking For Friends

Last night we had some friends, we've known for a long time, come over. Since it was Friday, we needed something quick and easy to cook. Charlcie mentioned pesto chicken. On the way home I went by the grocery store and got some chicken breasts and pesto. While I was there, I thought I'd get some things to make a great salad.
We got some fresh spring mix, a yellow and red pepper, mushrooms and some walnuts. When I got home I brined the chicken for 20 minutes and then put a rub on it and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. While I was waiting I made the salad. I used about a half a head of iceberg lettuce, 4 ounces of spring mix, half of the yellow and red pepper, green onions, carrots, and celery. I chopped up some tomato for individuals to use in their salads, so the leftovers wouldn't get all watery. The walnuts were chopped up and put in a side dish for people to add if they liked as well.
Since I had too many mushrooms I decided to saute about 75% of an 8 once container and put the rest in the salad. First, I put some noodles on to boil and cut up the chicken into a good bite size chunk and sauteed it in olive oil. When the noodles were done (I cooked enough for 8) I added about 2/3 cup of pesto and the mushrooms and chicken and mixed it up. If I had to do it again, I'd mix the pesto and the chicken and mushrooms and serve them in a separate bowl to add on top of the noodles. But it worked and everyone really enjoyed.
For dessert we had left over strawberry shortcake. We used the muffins I had made for pot luck. I had put a little splenda on the strawberries and they were very good. To top it off we added a little cool whip.
We had a great time eating, remembering old times, sharing our lives and praying together. You can't have a better Friday evening.