Pumpkin Seed and Spinach Pesto

Pumpkin Seed and Spinach Pesto

I have made lots of pestos.  Here are links to Light Basil Pesto, Kale and Walnut Pesto, and Avocado Pesto.  While all similar, they're unique enough to make at different times. 

This recipe is great for a dip - as I did with carrots this afternoon while watching Harry Potter 2 with Brennan.  Also good with pasta, as a spread for a sandwich or baguette, on top of sauteed vegetables, and as a dip with crackers.

I wish I could give credit where it's due, but someone gave me a copy of this recipe.  I'm pretty sure it's been in my to-make folder for a long, long time.

Heat the oven to 350* and toast raw pumpkin seeds for 15 minutes until golden.

While the seeds are toasting, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the spinach, garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs for 1 minute.  Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and let the spinach cool.  Then squeeze out any excess moisture, and pull the leaves from the thyme sprigs.

 

Combine the spinach, thyme, garlic, slightly cooled pumpkin seeds, grated Parmesan and olive in a blender or food processor and season with lemon juice and sea salt.  Blend until smooth.

 

This recipe makes a "dry" pesto, so if you want a more "wet" one, add more olive oil.

 

 



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Enjoy!

Avocado Alfredo Sauce

Avocado Alfredo Sauce

Alicia Silverstone shared this recipe on her blog last week so I tried it out.  It originally comes from EcoSalon, and it looked absolutely delicious.

 

I made up a large pot of pasta - rotini was what I had in the pantry.

Then I made the "alfredo" sauce by combining avocados, fresh basil, garlic cloves, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper in the food processor.

 

 

I drained the pasta and tossed it with the sauce, then topped it off with Kalamata olives and a little lemon zest.

 

It was really good.  David and I loved it.  Brennan liked it even better the next day, warmed up for an after school snack. 

 

David was pretty certain I had made this dish before, so I looked here on the blog and lo and behold - a different version of this same meal - although this other version was more of a pesto and included pine nuts.  You can find it here.

 

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Enjoy!

 

Orecchiette in No-Cook Spinach Sauce

Orecchiette in No-Cook Spinach Sauce

 

This sounded like a great way to serve pasta - and I was looking for something other than marina sauce or broccoli to try. 

 

Kroger unfortunately doesn't carry orecchiette.

 

 

So we went with shells.

 

In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package in salted water. 

With 5 minutes to go, add green beans (I used frozen) and frozen lima beans.

Drain and set aside.

 

In a food processor, process spinach, garlic, oil, water, lemon juice, sea salt, and black pepper to taste.

Combine pasta, beans, and sauce together.

Serve warm or cold!

 

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Buon Appetito!

 

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Avocado Pesto Pasta

 

This is another yummy recipe from Chloe Coscarelli's cookbook that we tried out this week.

I think this may be my favorite pesto recipe - and I've made tons of different pestos.

We loved the creaminess of this one - and the great flavors.

 

 

I made a pound of linguine in salted water while I made the pesto in my food processor.

For the pesto I used basil, pine nuts, 2 avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.

I drizzled in the olive oil as the other ingredients were chopping and combining.

 

The recipe calls for 1/2 c olive oil, but I think next time I'll start with 1/4 c and see if I want to add more.

 

I placed the hot pasta in a large bowl and topped it with the pesto.

Combined it and served immediately.

We ate the leftovers later as well - the lemon juice protects the avocado from turning brown and kept the flavor great.

 

This makes a large bowl of pasta, so you could easily cut the recipe in half.

 

It was creamy and delicious!

 

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Enjoy!

 

 

Five Ingredient Pasta Toss

Five Ingredient Pasta Toss

 

At the end of a very busy weekend, I decided to throw this dish together so we could all watch a family movie together.  So easy, and great with a side vegetable, or by itself as we chose to eat it tonight!

 

I cooked bowtie pasta al dente.  While it was cooking I added olive oil and crushed garlic to my serving bowl.

 

Then I tossed in rinsed & drained pinto beans, and chopped fresh basil.

The original recipe calls for white beans, but I chose pinto and they worked well.

 

I drained the pasta and tossed it together right away with the remaining ingredients, and served.

 

The original recipe also calls for a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, with the juice.

Because my kids don't like tomatoes, I skipped this ingredient.

 

David recommends doubling up on the beans.

I am reminding myself to season the pasta water because the pasta needed a little extra salt.

The boys think there was too much garlic, so I cut it back to 2 cloves in the recipe below.

 

Perfect accompaniment to Elf tonight!

 

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Buon Appetito!

Linguine with Tuscan Kale

Linguine with Tuscan Kale

 

A few days ago I shared a recipe from Chef Gregory, and this is another one of his.

While we love pasta in our house, I had no idea how this recipe would go over.

That's a lot of kale and a lot of onion. 

I just wasn't sure.

 

But, it was a hit! 

We had some leftovers, but not much.  I'll certainly make this dish again someday.

 

 

You start by cooking chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent. 



 

Then you add in the thinly sliced kale and let it wilt with the onions and garlic for 5 minutes.

 

I was lucky that Mary and Mike had just given us some beautiful greens from their organic garden.  This kale was delicious!!

 



 

 

Then you add in vegetable stock and cook for 20 minutes, letting the stock reduce.

 

Season with salt and pepper, then toss with hot linguine and Parmesan cheese.

 Deliziosa!

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Buon Appetito!

 

 

Penne and the Jets

Penne and the Jets

David Zinczenko has some great recipes, with even greater recipe names, in his cookbook - The Abs Diet Cookbook that my friend John loaned me.

Penne and the Jets calls for spinach, but I used chopped fresh kale instead and no one was the wiser.

I started by cooking penne according to the package directions.

While it was cooking I heated olive oil in a large skillet and sauteed garlic.  Then I added my kale and let it cook until it started to wilt.  Kale takes more time to cook than spinach I've found, so I just let it sit for a few minutes and wilt away.

**I have "no tomatoes please" eaters in my house.  Normally at this point you would add in chopped sun-dried tomatoes to cook with your greens, but you'll see I added them in later.**
 

Once the greens have wilted, you remove it from the heat and toss in your remaining ingredients:  fresh parsley and basil, kalamata olives, chickpeas and feta or Parmesan if you are using it.

 

Here is the version we placed on the table, for everyone to doctor up with Parmesan or crumbled Feta.

 

And here's my version with heated, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, which really make the dish in my opinion!

Everyone loved it and we'll definitely make again and again!

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Buon Appetito!

Quinoa & Vermicelli

Quinoa & Vermicelli

I really like this simple dish.  The first time I had quinoa in a restaurant, it was in this side dish.

I had it when Sandy offered her healthy cooking classes, and I have seen the same recipe in several vegetarian, whole-grain cookbooks.

I modified the 5 versions I had to create this one that I really liked.

The boys did too.

David is not a huge fan of quinoa, but he liked this dish "all right".

I think it would be great with sauteed vegetables cooked with it.

I used Mexican fideo pasta - their version of vermicelli.  I like it because it's cut short, like I've usually seen the pasta in this dish.

You start by cooking the vermicelli noddles with butter in a large saucepan until the noodles brown.

Then you add the vegetable broth, minced garlic, Kosher salt, and quinoa that has been rinsed and drained a number of times.

Bring it to a boil, then cover and simmer it until the quinoa has soaked up all the broth - about 15 minutes.

Serve while still warm.

It's really good warmed up the next day as well!

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Buen Provecho!

Penne al Forno

Penne al Forno

I found this recipe on Dr. Barnard's website and thought it sounded great for a one dish dinner. 

I have a large skillet that I was able to combine all the ingredients in and then place in the oven to bake the dish.   You could always transfer the combined ingredients to a large baking dish before the last step of popping it in the oven. 

Pasta "al Forno" refers to a pasta dish that is cooked on the stove and then baked in the oven.

This dish is highly customizable again. 

The original recipe includes a number of options, so I'll share those with you. 

I sauteed sliced carrots, celery, and zucchini in a spray of olive oil for about 5 minutes.

I added some Italian seasonings and garlic powder.

 

I cooked the penne according to the packaged directions, draining it when it was just barely al dente.

It will continue to cook later in the oven.

Then I poured the hot, drained pasta into the skillet with the vegetables, added the marinara sauce, and the rinsed & drained beans, and combined it well.

I placed the covered dish in the oven and baked it at 350* for 12 minutes.

And done!

I pulled this dish out of the oven, told the family what was in it, and ran out the door for a church meeting, without trying it.

First thing David told me when I got home was that it was a really good dish. 
They liked the beans (which were an optional ingredient in the original recipe), and my concerns that there wasn't enough marinara sauce were unwarranted. 

Everyone liked it. 

Along with the cannellini beans, other optional ingredients included:  2 cups of diced Roma tomatoes, 2 diced roasted bell peppers, 1/4 c sliced olives, and chopped onion.

I will go with 12 oz of pasta next time instead of 16 oz, but overall - a win for my family!

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Buon Appetito!

Ziti with Fresh Tomatoes and Olives

Ziti with Fresh Tomatoes and Olives

Last night the evening Book Club that I am in, the Litwits, did something completely different.

Our July hosts, Sam and Alexa, are caterers and chefs.  They suggested we all make a dish from a favorite cookbook, bring copies of the recipe, and we could have a meal together and discuss.

I was introduced to a number of yummy cookbooks last night.

And the food was incredible!

We had a great time sharing our dishes, our cookbooks, and catching up on a beautiful summer evening.

I had planned to take a crawfish etouffe last night, but this week is pretty crazy with contractors in and out of the house, lots of activities and appointments with the boys, and trying to get the house in good shape for our visitors arriving tomorrow!

So, I went with something much quicker - and a dish I thought sounded great for summer.

I must say - I fully intended to use ziti, but couldn't find it anywhere!  Who knew?  Trips to two great grocery stores in town and no ziti at all - so we used penne.  Turns out - our chef friends also use penne when ziti isn't available.  What's up with no ziti in town??

This is a very simple dish, and I loved it.  I will be modifying it slightly from the original recipe in one of my favorite go-to cookbooks

I like this dish because it can be served warm or cold.

I started by combining chopped fresh tomatoes, oil-cured black olives sliced in half, olive oil, lots of fresh basil and parsley, minced garlic, Kosher salt, and hot red pepper flakes. 

I mixed it up and let it sit together for half an hour or so while I cooked the pasta.

Once the pasta was cooked and drained I mixed the tomato sauce and pasta together.  I added a little seasoning and covered it to serve later at the Litwits.

I felt the dish was too pasta-heavy going with the original recipe.

So next time I will cut the amount and let the tomatoes be the star.

The modified recipe is below.

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Buon Appetito!



Pasta with Kale and Walnut Pesto

Pasta with Kale and Walnut Pesto

I saw this recipe in Real Simple Magazine awhile back and ripped it out. 

I had a bunch of kale on hand and we love pesto, so I decided to make this last week for my pasta lover, Brennan.

I'm new to cooking with kale, but have been trying some new recipes, including the Yummy Greens I posted recently.  I love a recipe that uses ingredients I already have in the house!

I toasted walnuts on a baking sheet in the oven for 8 minutes then chopped them up.

While the nuts were heating up, I boiled a large pot of salted water and then cooked my kale for about 30 seconds until it turned bright green.

Then I scooped the kale out of the water and drained it, leaving the water too cook the pasta.

After it drains, you have to take paper towels and really get all the water out so your pesto isn't watery. 

That's better

You put the kale, Parmesan (or pecorino) cheese, garlic clove, most of the walnuts, and Kosher salt and pepper in the food processor and finely chop it, streaming olive oil in through the tube.

You then drain your boiled pasta, reserving a little bit of the cooking water, and put everything back into the empty pot - the pesto, the drained pasta and about 1/4 c of the reserved pasta water, and combine well.

Transfer to a serving bowl and topped with the remaining chopped, toasted walnuts.

 

Kale has a distinctive flavor, and I think the garlic, pasta, walnuts, and cheese really improve the flavor.  This is a great dish warmed up the next day for lunch as well!

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Buon appetito!