Pesto! (With shrimp and veggie farfalle)

Glorious!

I got an unreasonable amount of pesto from work today. The ladies where I work have a little garden behind the building, and someone planted way too much basil without any actual intention for it. Someone asked me today, "So what do you put basil in?" at which point I felt free to help myself to the basil. I got enough for 3 batches of pesto and some fresh left over. Don't worry, there's still plenty of basil at work- and I'm taking some pesto back to help enlighten them.

Once my delicious fresh pesto was put together, I whipped up some pasta using the veggies in my fridge, some shrimp, and a crusty loaf of french bread. What a great summer dinner!

Ingredients:

• 2 c basil, packed
• 1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 c freshly grated parmesan cheese (puh-puh-puh-PLEASE don't use the Kraft pre-grated nonsense!)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 c pine nuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine all of these ingredients in a blender or food processor.
2. Press- "Blend" and wait for 30 seconds- 1 minute.

3. Mix in a few spoons full with whatever delicious pasta and veggies you have, and store the rest in a jar or tupperware in the fridge.

Voila! That was so stinkin quick and easy :)

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Salad

Joe's Review: "That was the best... salad... ever... Best salad ever."

I'm lucky enough to have an entire Saturday to myself, today. What I like to call, "A nice little Saturday," if you will. Amidst my nice little Saturday of crossing things off  "the list," I took a breather to grab some miscellaneous things from the grocery store and get creative in the kitchen. The salad was perfect! Crunchy, flavorful, hearty, and so tasty!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c chopped Romaine lettuce
• 1/2 c chopped spinach
• 1/2 c cole slaw mix (finely chopped carrots and cabbage)
• 1/4 c chopped fresh basil
• 1 tomato cut into thin wedges
• 1 lg chicken breast sliced into two thin pieces
• 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 c panko bread crumbs
• 1 egg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Spead a small amount of cooking oil onto a baking dish.

2. Mix panko bread crumbs and parmesan in a flat dish. Beat the egg in a separate dish. Dredge the washed chicken in egg then the crumb/cheese mixture.









3. Lay the pieces on the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Flip them half way through.

4. While your chicken is cooking, throw all of the veggies in together.

5. If you have a broiler, pop the chicken in there for 2 minutes on each side to get extra crispy. Then slice the chicken and layer it over the greens. Top with your favorite dressing :) We had balsamic vinaigrette- it was SO tasty!!

Summer Squash Soup, Roasted Tomato and Cipollini

I think that dinner tonight may have been the highlight of my Goodies and Grub experience thus far. I'm so happy to have been blogging for a couple months because it's been opening so many doors (or cupboards) in the kitchen! 

Both of these recipes come from The Smitten Kitchen; they were such a perfect compliment to one another. I'm calling the combination of bold tomatoes and onions with subtle, comforting summer squash soup "Summer Lovin'." What an essential summer garden supper!

I'll stop with the veggie love story and get on to the how-to's...

Veggie mania

Squash Soup Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 lb yellow summer squash, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow-fleshed potato (1/2 pound), peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
• 4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a 6- to 8-quart wide heavy pot over moderate heat, then cook onion with salt, stirring, until softened, about 8 minutes. 

2. Add squash, carrots, potato, and stock and bring to a boil. 

3. Reduce heat, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes. 

4. Remove from heat and cool soup, uncovered, 10 minutes.

5. Working in batches, puree; soup in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids) and transfer to a bowl. 

6. Return purée to cleaned pot and thin with water if desired; simmer 3 minutes. Season with salt.  

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Roasted Tomato and Cipollini Ingredients:

• 1 pound cipollini onions
• 1 pound small Roma or large cherry tomatoes1/4 cup olive oil
• Coarse salt
• 4 slices of country or ciabatta bread, one-inch thick
• Garlic clove (optional)
• Few fresh basil leaves, slivered 
• 1/2 c ricotta cheese/spinach mixture (optional)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Directions: 
  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Boil a small pot of water and blanche the cipollini for 10 seconds, then plunge them into cold water. Use a paring knife to make a small slit in each, and slide them out of their skins and outer layer. 
  
  
  
  2. Spread peeled onions and tomatoes in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and a few good pinches of coarse salt. Toss everything together until well-coated and roast in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, reaching in every 15 minutes with a spatula to roll the tomatoes and onions around to ensure all sides get blistered. 
  
  
  
  

  

  Fuhgetaboutit!

  3. Just before you take the tomatoes and onions out, place your bread slices on the oven rack and let them toast lightly. You can rub the toasts with a halved garlic clove while still hot.   
  
  
  
  
  4. Use tongs to arrange toasts in one layer on a serving platter.
  
  
  
  
   
  5. I had some leftover spinach/ricotta mixture from stuffed chicken earlier in the week, so I spread some of that onto the toast. Then top the toast with tomato and onions, don't hesitate to pour some of the hard work of the tomato and onion onto the toast. 
  
  
  6. Sprinkle the dish with the basil and eat at once. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Shimp Linguine al Diablo

This one can have as much or as little "devil" in it as you like and it's delicious either way. I was experimenting with a Bonnet hot pepper that I haven't tried before, so I only used half. Next time I'm going to do its name justice and use the whole damn pepper...

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb linguine
• 1/4 stick of butter
• 1 glug of olive oil
• 1/2 lb peeled raw shrimp
• 1/4 of a small zuccini
• a handful of broccoli
• a few chopped mushrooms (crimini or baby bella)
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (I used "garlic and herb" flavored)
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 1 dried hot pepper

Directions:

Look at all of that goodness just simmering together!

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and add linguine. Cook 10-11 minutes.
2. Melt butter and olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes.
3. Add veggies, saute 2 minutes.
4. Drain some liquid off from the canned tomatoes, but leave about half of it in there. Add tomato and remaining liquid to pan. Add the cream and crumbled dried pepper. Stir.
5. Add shrimp, cover and let simmer for 5 minutes (until pasta is done). Salt and pepper to taste.
6. Drain pasta, remove saute contents from heat, and combine it into one big happy family.

Forget Me Not Breakfast

A little reminder not to forget about all of the delicious bits of leftovers in the fridge when it comes time for breakfast.


Ingredients:

• 1 glug oil
• 1-2 T chopped onion
• 1 t chopped garlic
• Veggies: broccoli (use anything fresh!)
• Leftovers: 1/2 c rice, asparagus, shish kabobs
• 2 eggs
• 1 T parmesan cheese
• 2 T sausage
• Salt and Pepper

1. Heat oil in a skillet, saute onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes
2. Add sausage, brown and crumble another 2 minutes
3. Add lesser cooked/raw veggies
4. Add more cooked veggies and any cooked meat
5. Add rice, two dashes of soy sauce if you're a savor-toothed tiger like me. Brown 1-2 minutes.
6. Make a ring in the pan, turn the heat way down and add the scrambled eggs to the middle of the pan. At this point, resist the urge to push the eggs around in the pan because it's going to make a sticky mess of the rice. Just put the lid on and wait patiently for about 5 minutes, then flip the eggs and kind of chop them with your spatula. Give it another 2-3 minutes covered, and voila!
7. For the ultimate cultural confusion, serve on a warm tortilla :)

Salmon and Couscous Packets

For my first blog recipe I thought I would start with something easy that and anyone can cook. The pearled couscous comes from a box making this dish only semi homemade. I like the Near East brand for the couscous (be sure to get pearled couscous, the larger balls) and for my house seasoning in use Paula Deen's. Also, for the matchstick carrots I like to use the ones that are pre shredded and come in a bag, found in the salad section of the grocery store. They are great for salads the next day. I paired this salmon dish with a light, crisp, carbonated Vinho Verde made by Gazela.

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 (5-ounce) pkgs basil and herb pearled couscous mix, cooked according to directions

4 (4-ounce) skinless salmon fillets

1 c matchstick zucchini 1 c matchstick carrots

1 Roma tomato, thinly sliced
1 lemon, thinly sliced
2 tsp house seasoning blend
Salt & Pepper

2 Tbs olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.2. On 4 sheets of parchment paper or aluminum foil, divide couscous evenly. Place salmon fillets over couscous. Top each evenly with zucchini, carrots, sliced tomato, and sliced lemon. Sprinkle with house seasoning, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Fold the paper or foil over and seal completely.

3. Bake for 15 minutes, on a baking pan, adding more time if your fish is more than 4oz.