Let me start this post by saying I made G a double layer ice cream cake for his bday last weekend. Eating that cake was the second most excited I saw him in the last 2 days. The MOST excited was when the Kentucky Wildcats won the NCAA championship last night. GO CATS!!!!
Last night I was heading to Hooters (where I, incidentally, ate some fried pickles) to watch the game with him so I had to throw together a quick dinner for the girls. This is the fastest pasta dish in the world.
SO easy. Everything is available at Trader Joe’s. In fact, I got this idea from Trader Joe’s as they used to have a pasta in a box with these ingredients except you had to add a whole s-ton of olive oil & water to the dehydrated stuff for the dressing. M used to love it but all good things came to an end as they do at TJ’s and they no longer sell it.
1. Chop pitted olives as small as you like them. Same with the tomatoes. Mine came julienned so I just left them alone!
2. Cook your pasta of choice according to package directions.
3. Drain pasta & then return to pot. Add the olives, tomatoes & a handful of crumbled feta.
Toss & salt to taste. I added a couple of tablespoons of olive oil too!
This morning Maddie was eating this dish (yes, for breakfast) and I remarked, “When I was a kid we didn’t eat pesto.”
She asked me what we ate instead.
“Oh, we ate Spaghettios, Fluff-N-Nutter sandwiches on Wonder Bread, Steak-ums, American Goulash (homemade Hamburger Helper), Campbell’s Tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches (on Wonder bread with Kraft singles and margarine). I could go on.
All that sodium, those chemicals & preservatives and look how great WE turned out!
If I’d known how easy this stuff was to make I’d have made it years ago. Try it – it’s very easy and beautiful and you’ll love the results. (Note to Libby: you can get all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s.)
All you need is:
INGREDIENTS:
30 large leaves or 60 small leaves fresh basil
generous pinch of salt
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 TBSP pine nuts, toasted
4 TBSP olive oil
4 TBSP parmesan reggiano, grated
1. Add basil, salt & garlic to blender and blend into a thick paste. You might find you need to add 2 TBSP of the olive oil to get it going.
I used coarse sea salt but I prefer using fine sea salt as the coarse didn’t chop up well in my blender and I got a few bites of it when I ate. If you have a powerful blender or food processor you’ll have no problem!
2. Add pine nuts and remaining 2 TBSP olive oil & blend some more. Add cheese and blend till you have a creamy pesto sauce.
Serve on pasta, as a pizza topping, smeared on crusty bread, or tossed in a salad!
Shock of shocks – both my kids love this! Even G loves it. Holy cow.
Add last 2 TBSP olive oil & cheese and blend until smooth & creamy.
Toss with pasta, salads or smear over crusty bread. YUM!
Notes
This recipe yields 1 cup of pesto.
NOTE: If you don’t use it all at once, store covered in fridge with a light coating of olive oil to keep it from turning brown. If it DOES turn brown, you can still eat it!! It’s just not as appealing visually…
Pesto can be frozen. Simply omit the cheese and freeze. You can add the cheese later when it’s defrosted.
Freezing methods: freeze (without the cheese) in tightly wrapped ice cube trays OR as dollops on a cookie sheet. If you use the cookie sheet method, be sure to wrap the dollops as soon as they’re frozen, really well in plastic and then in a Zip-Loc freezer bag. When you defrost you can add the cheese.
Hope you all had fun last weekend! All I remember doing was jumping in a jumper with a bunch of little kids and hiking in the noon day sun WITHOUT sunscreen or hats. Real smart.
Here’s a tasty, simple little salad I made last Friday. I saw the fennel at the farmer’s market last Wednesday and at $1 a bulb it seemed a good deal.
You know who got me into fennel? My dad. He makes a really good salad.
Here’s what you need:
INGREDIENTS:
1 medium-large zucchini, sliced into paper thin coins
2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed & shaved paper thin (or as thin as you can get them!)
2/3 c loosely chopped fresh dill
1/3 c fresh lemon juice (about 3 juicy lemons)
salt
4 or 5 generous handfuls of arugula
1/2 c pine nuts, toasted
1/3 c feta cheese, crumbled
OPTIONAL: Honey
1. Combine the fennel, zucchini and dill in a bowl.
Toss with the lemon juice, olive oil, and 1/4 tsp salt.
Just EXACTLY enough lemon juice, any extra carelessly spilled
Set aside and let marinate for 20 minutes, or up to an hour.
2. Just before serving salad, put the arugula in a large bowl. This is also from my garden – from last summer if you can believe it. It’s been producing since then. Wow!
3. Scoop all of the marinating veg on top of the arugula and pour as much of the lemon juice dressing as desired on top of that. Toss gently. Adjust dressing to your taste with more lemon juice, salt or pepper. If the lemon juice is too sour – add a bit of honey.
Not THIS!!!
4. Sprinkle pine nuts & feta on top & toss gently. Serve!
Author: Christina Cox (Source: Super Natural Every Day)
Recipe type: Salad
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Light, tangy, crunchy salad!
Ingredients
1 medium-large zucchini, sliced into paper thin coins
2 small fennel bulbs, trimmed & shaved paper thin (or as thin as you can get them!)
⅔ c loosely chopped fresh dill
⅓ c fresh lemon juice (about 3 juicy lemons)
salt
4 or 5 generous handfuls of arugula
½ c pine nuts, toasted
⅓ c feta cheese, crumbled
OPTIONAL: Honey
Instructions
Combine the fennel, zucchini and dill in a bowl. Toss with the lemon juice, olive oil, and ¼ tsp salt. Set aside and let marinate for 20 minutes, or up to an hour.
Just before serving salad, put the arugula in a large bowl.
Scoop all of the marinating veg on top of the arugula and pour as much of the lemon juice dressing as desired on top of that. Toss gently. Adjust dressing to your taste with more lemon juice, salt or pepper. If the lemon juice is too sour – add a bit of honey.
Sprinkle pine nuts & feta on top & toss gently. Serve!
I love mushrooms!! I haven’t cooked with them for years because *someone* doesn’t “dig on fungus.” But now that *someone* is working late a lot, and *someone’s* parents are in town and unable to eat anything with too much vitamin K in it (thanks, a lot, Blood Thinner!) I decided to cook them again! Why not? After all, he usually strolls in around 11PM claiming to have eaten at work anyway… This dish should be classified as an adult dinner due to the alcohol content. It may have burned off but it sure didn’t taste like it did. Or it sure did taste like it didn’t!
This is pretty easy – I chopped the mushrooms & onions ahead of time during someone’s (not my) nap. Let’s get started! You’ll need:
INGREDIENTS:
24 oz (weight) mushrooms, thickly sliced (I used crimini) (Baby Bellas are recommended but they were $$$ so I got crimini)
4 TBSP olive oil (2 for roasting mushrooms & 2 for sautéing onions)
1 large onion, peeled & sliced
1 c dry white wine
3/4 c whiskey (or another 3/4 c white wine if you don’t have whiskey)
1/2 c vegetable broth (I used bullion)
1 c heavy cream salt & pepper to taste
12 oz pasta, cooked al dente (I actually used the whole 16 oz bag so that I’d have extra “noonles” for the kids.)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle mushrooms with olive oil, sprinkle salt & pepper on top. Roast for about 20-25 minutes. Drain & set aside.
Gorgeous, earthy little shrooms…
While they’re roasting, stand back & observe your child or pet.
If you don’t have a child or a pet, lie down on the pristine couch with Bravo TV on and be happy.
2. In a large pot, heat remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add sliced onions & saute for 4-5 minutes or until translucent.
Forgive the ugly lighting as I took it at night (I prepped the veggies during the day!) and do not have my lighting down yet:
Check on kids every once in a while.
Yes! Dinner is almost done!
3. Add wine & whiskey. I used Charles Shaw b/c we have a lot since Patsy’s visiting & Maker’s Mark (which is probably a little too “nice”) since we have loads as it’s G and his dad’s trademark father-son drink.
Ode to Patsy:
Ode to Jack:
Let this concoction bubble for a few minutes. Add the broth and let it reduce for another few minutes. (You can use vegetable or mushroom broth. I was out so I used Vegetarian Chicken Flavored Bullion added to water. It’s LOADED with sodium so I use caution and add much less than its label advises.) You are now up to 2 sets of a few minutes. About 4-5 minutes according to my calculations. Now add cream and reduce heat to low. Add mushroom, salt & pepper. Allow to simmer until it thickens.
Reserve a little of your pasta water in case sauce needs thinning after you’ve added pasta. Add cooked pasta & toss together! Season with salt & pepper to taste. Delicious & not for the Designated Driver.
Author: Christina Cox (slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
Recipe type: Main
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
An easy, earthy, mushroom & pasta dish complete with your (inlaws’) favorite alcoholic beverages!
Ingredients
24 oz (weight) mushrooms, thickly sliced (I used crimini) (Baby Bellas are recommended but they were $$$ so I got crimini)
4 TBSP olive oil
1 large onion, peeled & sliced
1 c dry white wine
¾ c whiskey (or another ¾ c white wine if you don’t have whiskey) I used bourbon.
½ c vegetable broth (I used bullion)
1 c heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
12 oz pasta, cooked al dente (I actually used the whole 16 oz bag so that I’d have extra “noonles” for the kids.)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375. Spread mushrooms on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper. Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes.
Set your pasta water to boil.
In a large pot, heat olive oil, add onions & sauté, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until translucent.
Pasta water should be boiling. If so, add pasta to it & salt.
Add wine & whiskey (or all wine if you drank all your whiskey!) Let bubble for 1-2 minutes.
Add broth, and allow to bubble for another 2 minutes (to reduce.)
Add cream & turn heat to low. (NOTE: Reserve a cup or two of your pasta water in case your mushroom/sauce needs thinning!) Add your cooked pasta to mushrooms & toss. If sauce needs thinning, add some of the pasta water that you’ve saved.
Season with salt & pepper to taste.
YUM!
2.1.7
Final verdict: the kids picked out & ate only the noodles. Although Maddie likes mushrooms, she likes them alone. She is definitely not French. But why would she be?
Oh, and guess who strolled in early & hungry that night? None other than *someone.* D’OH!
