Pesto

My CSA has begin, such a joy. Every Friday I pick up a basket of fresh harvest. This week there was a giant bouquet of Basil. Oh my, the smell filled my kitchen, I felt like I was living in an herb garden. To keep the basil taste fresh and wonderful I made a batch of fresh pesto, served it with sauteed chicken and garlic bread. Still licking my lip and tasting that pesto hummmmmmmmmmmm. I will give you the pesto recipe, I took the chicken, marinated it in a squirt of lemon juice and some Italian dressing for a couple of hours, cut it up sautéed it just until cooked through, threw a little pesto on it turned off the stove and let it sit with the pesto on it for about 20 minutes Cooked the fresh pasta, (so much better than dry, truly worth the extra money). Tossed pesto on it and threw in the chicken with it's cooking juice and the pesto it has sat in, heat it through before throwing into the pasta. OH, MY so good.

PESTO

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup Olive oil

3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.
Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.

Process basil pesto it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. Serve over pasta. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.

Banana Pancakes by Tamra Davis, "give me something good to eat"

I highly recommend the cookbook by Tamra Davis, "Give me something good to eat" available on Amazon.com. It is a wonderful collection of recipes that are healthy, some are vegan, non-dairy and also carnivore. Some of the recipes have a little addition to make them alsodelicious for adults, what a great idea. The banana pancakes are so good, the only difference I made was I added the banana when the pancakes were poured in the pan, (in case I didn't use all the batter I wouldn't have banana slices in it). I also added blueberries instead of banana to some of them. They are so good and have a small amount of sugar and just good ingredients. Big people will love them too, you don't have to have kiddies in the house to enjoy these easy and delicious recipes.

Banana Pancakes

(For 2 adults and 2 kids)

1 1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon oil

1 banana sliced

Butter and maple syrup

Mix the wet ingredients together until blended. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Mix the wet and the dry together. Add the sliced bananas. Stir them in.

Put a small amount of butter or oil in a large frying pan. let it heat up evenly and start to pour pancakes. Make sure there is banana in all the pancakes. When the pancakes start to bubble, turn them over. Take a peak first to make sure the underside is cooked until lightly browned. Serve with butter and maple syrup.

Tamra Davis website is 222.TamraDavisCookingShow.com

I made these pancakes for Ocean and Lana this morning, they absolutey loved them, Ocean ate 4 - 3 sausage and Lana ate 2 and 1 sausage, little Michael Phelps usually eats twice what Lana eats.

COOK ON...................

I made this the other night and got a few inquires, I thought I'd share it with you. It is a rather low/fat/cal version. Not the traditional Mexican Posole (can be high in fat) but with the toppings, the soul of the soup is the same and gives a satisfying feeling. So do try this, make sure you serve it with warm tortillas and include all the toppings, it is integral to the Posole. If you have any questions contact me at ecbadgee@aol.com. It really is simple to make, this is my personal recipe so I had to create it on paper, hope it is clear and concise for you. COOK ON........

Chicken Posole

Ingredients Serves 8

3 Lbs boneless skinless thighs, (remove fat and cut into chunks)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, sliced

4-6 garlic cloves smashed & chopped fine

1 can diced green chilies (if you prefer hotter you can do a can of diced jalapeno)

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/2 tsp thyme

1 1/2 tsp basil

2 bay leaves

1 tsp Menudo mix spice (optional)

1 large can hominy

2 quarts chicken broth,

Toppings:

sliced radishes (soak in cold water for 1 hr, removes some heat)

Cilantro, 1 bunch chopped

1 lemon or lime sliced

3 green onions chopped

Extra hot sauce

Saute chopped onion in olive oil for 5 minutes, then add celery & carrots, saute another 3 minutes, add garlic, oregano, thyme basil and menudo mix, saute 1 minute. Add broth, hominy and bay leaves. Let simmer for 15 minutes then add chicken chunks, done when chicken is cooked and tender.

Serve in bowl with squirt of lime or lemon juice, cilantro, radishes, & onions. Serve with warm tortillas.

Pot of Pinto Beans

The other night Michael and I went to another of our favorite little places for BBQ, Podna''s http://podnahspit.com/ All the BBQ of course is fantastic, even have BBQ trout WOW. They have several wonderful sides, corn bread, cole slaw, collar greens but my very favorite is the pinto beans, they are soft, creamy with so much flavor I just LOVE THEM!. I decided there must be a Mexican somewhere in that kitchen, hey well if they can do so can I, so I started yesterday by soaking two pounds of fresh pinto beans. This morning I drained and rinsed them. Added them to a big old pot and added water several inches above the pinto line. Let them boil and put them in the crock pot, I think they cooked about 2 hours, then I added a chopped onion, 6 diced garlic cloves, spices included cumin, oregano, espasote (helps w/the easiness) menudo mix, 2 bay leaves, thyme and some basil, be free they will just add to the flavor. They have now been cooking about 4 hours, I took about a cup to a cup and a half, pureed them and returned them to the pot (this is what makes them so creamy), stirred well then added salt and pepper to taste. You don't want to add the salt too early or your beans will never get tender. OH my they are so good, I can't wait till dinner. I'm going to be serving them with a cheese and avocado quesadilla and sliced catalope for a refresher. Try this dish, it is so satisfying to the soul. You can also add some meat to your quesadilla or make bean & cheese burritos. It's all good. So COOK ON...........

Fun Recipe

Do any of you but the oldsters remember Gracie Allen? This her classic humor. Anne (Guild) emailed this to me, she thought the bloggers would enjoy, I sure did. Google Gracie for some of her humor. Love you all. COOK ONl...........

Gracie Allen's Classic Recipe for Roast Beef

1 large Roast of beef

1 small Roast of beef

Take the two roasts and put them in the oven.

When the little one burns, the big one is done.

Spinach Beet Salad

Hello all, haven't been on for a while, last week was an incredibly busy one and I actually didn't do much interesting cooking. I'm on a very healthy food plan all this week, I had a friend over last weekend and of course we took her to some our favorite Portland eateries, that started the foodie indulgence which continued after she left, with blueberry cobbler a turnip cake (that's right and it was delish). But the the scale pointed at two additional pounds of all that wonderful food that attached itself to me. So, super healthy food week here I come. I'll be posting some of the recipes I use throughout the week. Last night I made a beet/feta/spinach salad. I followed a recipe sort of but I changed it so much that I'm going to just make my own. Hope you like as much as Michael and I did.

Spinach Beet Salad

Ingredients Serves 2

1 3-4 med beets

2 hard boiled eggs

1 C. thinly sliced sweet onion

3 C. baby spinach leaves

4 oz. crumbled feta cheese

1/3 C. walnut pieces

vinaigrette recipe below.

Directions

Boil the beets in water for approximately 12 minutes until tender enough for a fork to go it easily. When done take out to cool and put the two eggs in to hard boil, (you'll get that beautiful red color on the outside of the egg), cook eggs for approximately 15 minutes, then drop then into ice water immediately to cool, the shell will remove easily then. When the beets are cool enough to handle cut off stems and rub your hands over the beets and the skin will come right off, (use rubber gloves if you don't want your hands to get a beautiful pink, however it comes off in an hour or so.) Put eggs and beets in bowl to cool in refrigerator, they need to be cold before you serve the salad.

See you in a couple of days my friends, COOK ON................

Make a basic vinaigrette:

1/4 cup finely diced sweet onion

1 TBS dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, diced & smashed well

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

Add first 7 ingredients, blend then slowly add the olive oil, whisking (or in a blender) until emulsified (or incorporated into dressing) set aside.

Chop or slice the beets. Place beets, spinach, onion, feta, bacon, and walnuts into a large bowl. Drizzle with some of the vinaigrette, and toss to coat. Arrange mixture on 2 serving plates.

Quarter the pickled eggs, and arrange them on top of each salad. Serve with the remaining vinaigrette.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Roasted Asparagus

Happy Monday all. I made this lucious dish last night. After you cook the pasta it takes about 15 minutes to put together. Because I'm not doing dairy I'm always looking for interesting recipes to use goat cheese.

Note: Goat milk has a completely different composition than a cow, for that reason it fits into a non-dairy diet (thank goodness or I'd have to kill myself, no cheese for the rest of my life, AHHHHH)

There are so many goat cheese options now, it's wonderful. Especially Trader Joe's (again sorry Alabama). Any log of goat cheese will do for this recipe. If you feel like you need meat you could add some baked chicken or a pork chop. However, Michael and I just had this dish and some toast. Lots of protein in that cheese. It is rich tasting, creamy and the roasted asparagus had an amazing flavor to the whole dish. Keep out a whole cup of pasta water, so you can thin it out more if you want.

Pasta with Goat Cheese and Roasted Asparagus

This corkscrew pasta turns sophisticated with a creamy no-cook sauce. It's a dream to make: Just whisk together goat cheese, pasta water, and butter, and toss with cavatappi and asparagus.

INGREDIENTS Serves 4.

2 bunches asparagus (2 pounds total), tough ends removed

4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

12 ounces cavatappi or other short pasta

1 small log soft goat cheese (5 ounces), crumbled

2 to 3 tablespoons snipped fresh chives, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta. Place asparagus on a large rimmed baking sheet; dot with 1 tablespoon butter, and season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, tossing occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes; cut into 2-inch lengths.

While asparagus is roasting, generously salt boiling water. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Set aside 1 1/2 cups pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.

In a medium bowl, combine goat cheese, remaining 3 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup pasta water. Season with salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add goat-cheese mixture and asparagus to pasta; toss to combine, adding more pasta water if necessary for sauce to coat pasta. Serve pasta garnished with chives.

First published

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