pesto

Pistachio Mint Pesto

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Traditionally speaking, I’m not the biggest pesto fan. I’m of course talking about the no frills basil and pine nut version. Maybe if I made my own I’d feel differently, but whenever I order something with pesto on it at a restaurant I don’t get that bright herby punch I’m expecting. I’ve made a couple unique pestoes on the blog before, Jalapeno and Beet, and we’ve loved both of them. The jalapeno one has been made multiple times already. And come to think of it, I have beets in the fridge right now without a planned future…

But today we’re talking about a new variety of pesto. One that exceeded my expectations! I had an abundance of mint and the internet at my fingertips. I decided to give this pesto twist a try and I am oh so glad I did! I don’t often work with pistachios, in fact, I tend to forget that they even exist. I don’t know why, they’re quite delicious!

I served the pesto over pasta originally. The leftovers brightened up my sandwiches during the week for lunch – I put cooked chicken, cheddar cheese, pesto, and spinach in a pita and gave it a quick toast in the toaster oven. Perfect.

Pistachio Mint Pesto (pasta) Sew You Think You Can Cook

Pistachio Mint Pesto

Ingredients:

  • 1 C shelled pistachios
  • 1 C shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1 C fresh mint
  • 1 C fresh parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 C olive oil
  • juice 1 large lemon

Steps:

  1. Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

*This recipe is adapted from Denise at http://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/2015/09/pistachio-mint-pesto.htmlhttp://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/2015/09/pistachio-mint-pesto.html*

Pistachio Mint Pesto Sew You Think You Can Cook

#SundaySupper: Root Vegetables

~ lk529 ~ 25 Comments

Every year in our marriage we’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day by enjoying fondue. That’s what happens when you get two Fondue Makers! Sometimes I do a cheese, sometimes chocolate, and sometimes even both!

This year, our 5th married Valentine’s Day, was a little different. Our stay here in Ohio has been for schooling, my husband will earn his Masters degree at the end of the month. He successfully defended his thesis this week! This calendar year has been quite a stressful and busy one so far and I am quite ready to get my husband back. So, for Valentine’s Day this year I was reading Chapters 4 and 5 of his thesis, being a second set of eyes to check for content cohesion and grammatical quirks.

I woke up really early on Sunday, February 14th to go to the grocery store before the post-church crowds did their shopping to get everything I’d need for Caramelized Shallot Fondue and Champagne Poached Pears. I also found some Florida Strawberries! And then I got to the check out only to discover that they couldn’t sell me alcohol before noon.

We decided we’d go back to get the champagne later in the day but a snow storm derailed those plans. It was on to Plan B. No plan. The plan of, “What’s in the fridge?” Beets. Pine nuts. Crescent rolls. Pasta. Bacon.

An internet search yielded a Beet Pesto Pizza. We didn’t have any of the toppings but the pesto we could make and serve over pasta instead. (We did toss some bacon in our pasta, too!)

The result? A beautiful, deep pink pasta which turned out to be simply perfect for Valentine’s Day! My garnish of parsley makes this a great option for Christmas, too.

That long introduction leads us to the theme for today’s #SundaySupper hosted by Cindy of Cindy’s Recipes and Writings, root vegetables. We contemplated adding some sweet potato to the pesto, but were too afraid of the color that might result. There are some great ideas for how to prepare a wide variety of root vegetables in today’s round-up, simply scroll past my photo to check them out!

Beet Pesto

Ingredients:

  • 1 large beet, peeled and diced
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts
  • 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Toss beet and garlic in a little bit of olive oil. Season with S+P. Place on a baking sheet and roast 20-30 minutes, or until tender. (Note: roasting time will depend on size of dice.)
  3. When slightly cooled, place in a food processor and pulse until fine. Add the pine nuts and olive oil and puree until smooth. Season to taste with S+P.
  4. Option: Serve on pasta with parmesan and parsley.

Beet Pesto for #Sunday Supper from Sew You Think You Can Cook

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8387592742_f6164fd5a8_oJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the#SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.

Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

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#FreshTastyValentines: Frittata with Jalapeno Pesto

~ lk529 ~ 11 Comments

LogoWelcome the second day of #FreshTastyValentines, a blogging event headed up by Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

Valentine’s Day this year is on a Sunday which makes it the perfect excuse to start the celebration in the morning with brunch.

And can you guess that my recipe {sort of} comes from Bobby Flay’s newest cookbook, Brunch at Bobby’s?! (Yes, we’re obsessed with it.) Bobby’s recipe is for a Spanish Tortilla… we… made more of a frittata. Frittata for #FreshTastyValentines from Sew You Think You Can CookThe main difference: a tortilla is essentially a thick omelet with potatoes and is flipped to be cooked on both sides whereas a frittata is started on the stove and finished in the oven to cook all the way through. There wasn’t any way on this green earth that we were going to be able to flip the eggs in a clean manner, so we ran to the oven to cook the eggs all the way through. The result was still an amazing combination of flavors that even this egg-hating girl enjoyed! The key was the jalapeno pesto that really tied everything together.

To make the jalapeno pesto, I used Gourmet Garden’s Stir-in Cilantro Paste. I absolutely love Gourmet Garden and their products. For this family full of black thumbs they’re an affordable and practical way to use fresh herbs. The stir-in pastes are great for amping up sauces, marinades, or pestos and the lightly dried herbs are incredible for adding to soups, salads, or garnishing plates.

While I did use fresh parsley in the frittata, Gourmet Garden Stir-in Paste could easily be substituted and the Lightly Dried Parsley perfect for garnishing the plate. A move I will be making when we do trial two!

Frittata with Jalapeno Pesto

Ingredients for the Frittata:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 small red potatoes, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 lb Mexican chorizo, casings removed
  • 1 dozen eggs
  • 1/4 C heavy cream
  • 6 jarred red sweet peppers, diced
  • 4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
  • 1/4 C chopped fresh parsley

Ingredients for the Pesto:

Steps:

  1. Make the pesto: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss jalapenos in a little canola oil and place on a baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes, or until the skin is blistered. Place jalapenos in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle remove the stems and seeds.
  2. Place in food processor with cilantro, garlic, and pine nuts. Pulse until coarsely chopped. While the motor is running, pour in the olive oil until smooth. Add the Parmesan and season to taste with S+P. Adjust oil if needed to achieve a smooth texture. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use.
  3. Preheat broiler on low.
  4. Make the frittata: In a large oven-safe skillet, heat 2 tbsp oil over high heat. Add the chorizo and cook 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
  5. Add remaining tbsp of oil to the skillet if needed. Cook the potatoes until golden on both sides.
  6. In a large bowl beat the eggs with the cream until light and fluffy. Fold in the chorizo, peppers, goat cheese, parsley, S+P. Add to the skillet with the potatoes. Be sure to get the eggs underneath the potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes until the bottom is golden and set, stirring occasionally.
  7. (At this point, if you’re brave flip the eggs and cook the other side another 3 minutes.) Place skillet under the broiler for 3-5 minutes, until the top is golden and frittata is fully cooked.
  8. Slide the frittata out of the pan and cut into wedges. Serve with the jalapeno pesto.

*This recipe is modified from Brunch at Bobby’s*

Jalapeno Pesto for #FreshTastyValentines from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Don’t forget to enter our giveaway and be sure to check out the other bloggers who posted more Valentine’s recipes today:

Thank you to #FreshTastyValentines sponsors for providing bloggers with samples and products to use for #FreshTastyValentines recipe development without additional compensation. All opinions stated are those of the bloggers.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

 

#WeekdaySupper: Green

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

When the theme for March’s Weekday Supper posts was declared “Green” I knew that I immediately had to sign up for a slot. I’ve been reading my fair share of Dr. Seuss books to my little man and the first thing that popped in my head was “Green Eggs and Ham.”

#WeekdaySupper is a great movement by the #SundaySupper crew. Easy weeknight meals that can be done in under 30 minutes, without crazy, hard-to-find ingredients. This initiative is one we can all get behind. It’s important to gather around the table during the week, too!

We have breakfast for dinner about twice a month. Usually that means waffles or pancakes but eggs are also a great breakfast-for-dinner option. And the healthier option too. The best part is that eggs are unbelievably quick and you can be serving this literary dinner to your family in under 20 minutes.

Try them. You might like them.

There are a variety of methods for making green eggs and I opted to go in a direction without the use of food coloring. Recall my attempt at Green Velvet Cake! If you search for “green eggs and ham” on the internet you’ll find ways to make green eggs, and dishes that combine the eggs and ham into one bite (a quiche, for example). I wanted to serve green eggs and green ham. While the book shows sunny side up green eggs I’m not sure that’s even quite possible so I did go the scrambled route. I followed Martha Stewart’s recipe which involved making a nut-free pesto. I used that pesto to dredge a slice of ham steak in panko. The result – green ham!

Green Eggs and Ham

Ingredients:

  • 2 C fresh spinach/arugula blend
  • 1 C fresh basil
  • 2 C fresh Italian parsley
  • 3 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
  • eggs, 2 per person
  • ham steak, 3oz per person
  • 1 C panko
  • unsalted butter, for frying

Steps:

  1. In the bowl of a food processor combine spinach/arugula, basil, parsley, and Parmesan. Pulse until fine. Add the olive oil and pulse until combined. Season to taste with S+P.
  2. Brush some of the pesto on both sides of the ham steaks. Coat in panko.
  3. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook ham steaks 3 minutes on each side, until crust is golden and steak is warmed through. Remove from skillet. Repeat as needed.
  4. Beat eggs. Mix in 1 tbsp pesto per two eggs, season with S+P.
  5. Wipe out skillet and add a little more butter. Pour eggs into skillet. With a spatula or wooden spoon gently move eggs around and cook until desired consistency is reached. Serve with green ham.

*The egg recipe is adapted from Martha at http://www.marthastewart.com/893674/green-eggs-and-ham*

Green Eggs and Ham | Sew You Think You Can Cook

 Check out these other great green recipes that were posted this week

Sunday Supper MovementMonday – Greek Shrimp and Spinach Pasta by Recipes Food and Cooking
Tuesday – Scallops with Wilted Spinach and Arugula by MealDiva
Wednesday – Rice and Beans with Guacamole by Feed Me, Seymour
Thursday – Barley Risotto with Garlicky Spinach by eating in instead

Roasted Shrimp and Avocado Pesto

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

If you’re still keeping up with your New Year’s resolution, good for you! If you’re not – don’t consider it failure, pick it back up and try again.

On January first I promised you a healthy dish. I’m only 3 weeks late in delivering, but here it is! Brown rice pasta (pad thai noodles) and roasted shrimp tossed in avocado pesto.

I followed Amateur Gourmet‘s method for roasting the shrimp and was inspired by The Gracious Pantry‘s avocado pesto. Because I kept tasting throughout the cooking process, I ended up creating my own version of avocado pesto!

Roasted Shrimp and Avocado Pesto

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
  • 8 oz brown rice noodles
  • 2 avocados
  • 1/2 C fresh basil
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 C shredded asiago cheese
  • salt and white pepper, to taste

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 deg.
  2. Cook brown rice noodles according to package directions.
  3. Place shrimp on a greased baking sheet. Season with salt, pepper, and a little squeeze of lemon. Roast for 10 minutes.
  4. In a food processor combine the remaining ingredients.
  5. Toss noodles and shrimp with as much avocado pesto you want.

Avocado Pesto

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Pesto Chicken with Tomato Pesto Rotini

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

I stumbled upon this recipe during one of my Pinterest marathons.

When I first joined Pinterest I vowed that I would never have a cooking board – I have multiple cookbooks, Food Network, and for my internet recipe searches Foodgawker – adding Pinterest to that collection would provide me with simply too many choices! I kept my promise for almost two years – until I started blogging. I found myself subscribing to other food blogs and wanting to find a place to keep my favorite posts that wasn’t my email box. I caved and started a Blog Inspiration Pinterest Board.

I used leftover Red Pepper Pesto for this dish and the result was fantastic. I adjusted the sauce recipe too. Funnily enough, the chicken somehow took on the flavor of traditional meatballs. I thought about renaming this dish “Faux Pasta & Meatballs”.  The original recipe calls for traditional pesto – and I’d suspect the result would be a lighter, brighter pasta dish.

Pesto Chicken with Tomato Pesto Rotini

Ingredients:

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 4 tbsp red pepper pesto, divided
  • 1/2 bottle Lawry’s Herb & White Wine Marinade
  • 1/2 lb tricolor rotini pasta
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 yellow onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 16 oz tomato sauce
  • 3/4 C chicken broth
  • 1/2 C heavy cream

Steps:

  1. Cube chicken and season with S+P. Combine marinade and 2 tbsp pesto. Marinate chicken overnight.
  2. Cook pasta in boiling salted water.
  3. In a large skillet, cook chicken in its marinade.
  4. Make pasta sauce: In a sauce pan cook onion and garlic in olive oil. Pour in tomato sauce, broth and pesto. Cook for 10 minutes, until slightly reduced. Stir in heavy cream.
  5. Serve: Toss pasta with chicken and sauce.

*This recipe is modified from Chelsey at http://cdargis.tumblr.com/post/18818836004/garlic-pesto-chicken-with-tomato-cream-penne*

Pesto Chicken with Tomato Pesto Rotini

Italian Sausage and Red Pepper Pesto Panini

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

About twice a month I’m met with the “I don’t want to cook” flu. It’s usually accompanied by a strain of the “need to go to the grocery store” virus. There are two popular remedies to this illness: 1) date night out and 2) go to the store on the way home from work.  With this recipe, I’ve discovered a new antibiotic! Take what you have and make a sandwich.

In asking Stuart what he wanted for dinner he actually had an answer other than my favorite “I don’t know”. He wanted a panini. So I hit the web and found one that looked good. I shared the recipe and was given the vote of approval… along with the question, “Do we have what we need?” My answer, “ Um, we have bread.  And maybe cheese?” Instead of getting discouraged I read her blog post and thought, I could do that! (She utilized ingredients from her pantry/fridge to create her masterpiece.)

I used my engineering degree in the kitchen once again and improvised a panini maker. I slathered some butter on the outside of the sandwich and treated it like a grilled cheese. Except instead of using a skillet, I used my indoor grill pan. Taking the flat top of a saucepan, I pressed the sandwich. After achieving those traditional grill marks I flipped it over and repeated the process. The result – a beautiful panini fake out.

Italian Sausage and Red Pepper Pesto Panini

Ingredients:

  • 4 slices of bread
  • butter, for spreading
  • 2 tbsp red pepper pesto
  • 2 links hot Italian sausage, sliced into medallions
  • 2 slices white American cheese
  • kale

Steps:

  1. In a small skillet, cook sausage.
  2. Assemble sandwiches: Spread butter on all pieces of bread. On the opposite side of butter spread pesto on 2 of the slices. Top with sausage, kale, and cheese. Top with other slice of bread, butter side out.
  3. Press in panini maker or follow my method described above.

Fake Out Panini

Red Pepper Pesto Crusted Tilapia

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

My dream job would be to host my own show on Food Network. I know I have a long way to go and it’s something that will most likely never happen, but hey, that’s why it’s called a dream job.

Every year I watch Next Food Network Star. Spoiler Alert – I am very excited for this summer’s winner, Damaris, and her show this fall but I was drawn to Nikki Dinki from day one. This recipe, is one of hers. It’s very quick and simple to prepare and tastes incredible. I do not like Greek yogurt – I am not on the bandwagon – but I didn’t want to stray from Nikki’s recipe (I did have to switch the fish based on local availability though) so I gave it another shot. The Greek yogurt complimented the red pepper pesto perfectly. Mixing the panko with the pesto also provided a beautiful crust on top of the fish. I promise you this is a new staple in my kitchen.

Pesto Crusted Fish

Red Pepper Pesto Crusted Tilapia

Ingredients:

  • 2 roasted red peppers
  • 1/4 C pine nuts
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 shallot, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 C parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 C olive oil
  • 4 4oz tilapia filets
  • 1 C panko
  • 4 tbsp Greek yogurt

Steps:

  1. Make pesto: combine peppers, nuts, thyme, garlic, shallot, cheese, and olive oil in a food processor.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  3. Season fish with salt and pepper. Spread 1 tbsp of yogurt on each filet.
  4. Mix 1/2 C pesto from step 1 with the bread crumbs. (Or you could use store bought jarred red pepper pesto instead) Press onto each filet. Bake 20 minutes on a foil lined baking sheet.

*Both recipes are adapted from Nikki at http://www.nikkidinkicooking.com/home/red-pepper-pesto.html and http://www.nikkidinkicooking.com/home/pesto-crusted-halibut-grape-risotto.html*

Red Pepper Pesto Crusted Tilapia

Tuna Steaks

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

There were some pretty looking tuna steaks at the fish counter, so we bought two. I know it doesn’t sound crazy adventurous – buying tuna instead of say, squid. But I’d never prepared tuna steaks before. When it comes to fish, I usually stick with salmon or tilapia. I absolutely love grouper and mahi mahi, but I’ve never prepared my own.

Tuna SteaksI seasoned the fish with plenty of pepper, salt, and dried herbs and cooked them in a skillet with a little bit of olive oil. Spritzed with fresh lemon juice and provided pesto (I used my Nut-Free Basil Pesto) for dipping.

An Original Recipe

Tuna Steaks

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 2 tuna steaks
  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil

Steps

  1. Combine herbs, salt and pepper. Rub onto both sides of the fish.
  2. Sear fish over medium heat in olive oil. Cook to desired done-ness.

Tuna Steaks 1 Tuna Steaks 3Tuna Steaks 2

Nut-Free Basil Pesto

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

When I found a recipe that called for pesto I opted to make my own instead of buying it. So I scoured the internet and happened upon this recipe for Nut-Free pesto. My father has a nut-allergy so I found this to be an exciting discovery.

Even though I wasn’t cooking for anyone with a nut-allergy that night, it’s nice to know that these meatballs can be prepared anytime we’re hosting company.

Nut-Free Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

  • 4 C spinach
  • 2 C basil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 C parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/3 C + 1 tbsp olive oil

Steps

  1. Puree all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor.
  2. While the machine is running, stream in the olive oil.

*This recipe is from Maria and Josh at http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/spinach-basil-pesto/*

Nut-Free Basil Pest

I used this pesto in mini meatballs – ground turkey, pesto, panko breadcrumbs – on top of linguine pasta with jarred marinara sauce for a quick dinner that still tasted from scratch.Turkey Pesto Meatballs