Basil Pesto Pasta Salad

Has your summer extended into autumn, too? I was trimming my basil plants tonight, because they are still going gangbusters. A summer with an abundance of basil and only three tomatoes... Go figure. Anyhow, I need to use the basil while I still can, so I am planning to make a basil version of this pesto pasta that I so love.

I wonder if it is an option to freeze basil for future use?... Seems like it is not.... Do you know?

Tonsils & Strawberry Ice Cream

Well, it's been a bumpy little ride, but we turned a big corner this weekend and Little Miss is well on the way to mending. I came home from running an errand on Saturday afternoon to find that she had requested, and consumed, a snack of hard pretzels!... That was a big step away from the previous any-type-of-food-hurts-my-throat direction we'd been going for the previous eight days. Saturday was also the last time she had any pain medication.

Tonight, when I arrived back home after my aromatherapy class, I found a sweet girl, quietly sleeping in her own bed!! That is something I have noticed already--her sleep is so peaceful. She is not tossing and turning all over the bed and she seems to finally be getting some good sleep. Ah.

We have all been enjoying some strawberry ice cream that I made. Being that it's nearly summer (though, you wouldn't guess it by the weather we've been having) and time to get the ice cream makers out, I wanted to share the recipe with you. I have no idea where I found it. I wrote it down on the back of an envelope sometime last year, so your guess is as good as mine...

Strawberry Ice Cream
Scald 3 and 1/4 c. milk until bubbles form. Remove from heat. Add 3 and 1/2 c. sugar and 1 and 1/8 tsp. salt (I've just started using Himalayan pink salt--it's fun!). Stir until dissolved. Stir in 3 and 1/8 c. half and half, 1 and 3/4 tsp. strawberry extract (this could be vanilla, or whatever, instead), and 7 and 1/2 c. whipping cream.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Freeze in mixer.

Yum it up!

Recipe for a Gingerbread Birthday

How great is it that right before Christmas, Anastasia told me she would like a "Gingerbread Girl" themed birthday?... 50 - 70% off after Christmas, and we have ourselves a lot of birthday gear! Bonus that her birthday is in February, so I didn't have to hold onto all of this for too long.

I like to have an activity for the kids that goes with the theme of the party. Last year, it was a bean bag game with a bean bag to take home in a goodie bag. This year, gingerbread ornaments and cookies to decorate and take home in a gingerbread patterned box, and I recycled the back of the bean bag game to match this year's theme.

The only thing I didn't find on after-Christmas clearance was gingerbread mix. Go figure. So, I slightly modified a recipe I found in my vegetarian cookbook, 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes.

Here is the recipe for Apple Gingerbread. I am showing the ingredients doubled, and baking time increased, as was required to accomodate my large, gingerbread-shaped cake pan (original recipe's ingredients were half of what I have listed, put into an 8 inch square pan, and baked for 40 minutes):

Stir together 3 c. unbleached flour, 4 tsp. ginger, 2 tsp. baking powder, 2 tsp. baking soda, 2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. allspice.

In a large bowl, beat 2/3 c. olive oil and 2 eggs. Add 1 1/3c. sugar and 6 Tbsp. molasses and beat until combined. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with 1 c. plain yogurt. Stir in 3 c. chopped apples and 1 c. raisins.

Spoon into greased and floured baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes. Cool in pan and turn onto decorating surface.

I spooned a ganache (melt about 8 ounces of dark chocolate chips with 1 c. heavy cream and cool until desired consistency) over the cake and let it drizzle down the sides. Then, I piped a confectioner's sugar glaze (confectioner's sugar mixed with just a touch of milk to desired consistency) to create the "rainbow dress" that was requested by the birthday girl. This is a horrible picture taken before the eyes were put on! I will look for another from someone else's camera...

Pom & Pear Dessert

I am trying to use up what I have around the kitchen and came up with this dessert the other night:

Anastasia kept busy filling a bowl with pomegranate seeds, while I sliced and grilled two red pears. The BBQ is put away, so I just did this on the stove. The two pears were the perfect amount to make enough dessert for the three of us to enjoy. I prepared the whipping cream with a squirt of honey and a splash of almond extract. Anastasia topped the dishes with a few sesame seeds and a sprinkle of cinnamon (we're still working on her not turning the jar all the way over and dumping too much on whatever we're making).

So quick and simple to make, they looked pretty and tasted delicious!

Eggplant Pancakes

I followed the recipe for these (from Farm Fresh To You) exactly. They are actually called Fried Eggplant with Honey, Mint, and Sesame Seeds, but they taste like pancakes! Both husband and daughter loved to eat them. I'm sure the honey helped...

Do You Have an Elderberry Recipe?

My elderberry tree has never flowered in the four years it has been in the ground, let alone produced masses of beautiful berries! What's a girl to make with these? I have no recipies in any of my cookbooks. I didn't find anything on my favorite food blogs. I am thinking pie, for lack of any more creative ideas, though I did see something about making a tincture... I would love to can some jelly, but don't think I have enough berries (only one bunch right now, though two more will be ready shortly). Hmm... Any ideas?

Also, there are still two spaces available in my Pay It Forward giveaway. Don't have a blog to post it on? You can always put it on Facebook or Twitter or whatever else might work. Leave a comment on the original post if you'd like to participate. I would love to have a couple more people involved.

Orange Oatmeal Cookies

Jason loves oatmeal raisin cookies. I had yet to make them to his satisfaction, in nearly ten years of marriage, until now... Anastasia helped me make these for his birthday last month, in between her bouts of crying recklessly due to a way too long nap. Silver lining: I now know that I can find tasks for her to do in the kitchen, because she always wants to help me. Stirring is a good one... so it moving things from the cutting board to the bowl.

I adapted the Orange Oatmeal Cookies recipe in The Healthy Kitchen book, by Andrew Weil, M.D. and Rosie Daley.

Instead of walnuts, I used finely chopped pecans. Rather than zest from an orange, I used a tangelo... the reasons for both of those modifications: that's what I had on hand... the result: delicious.

You can smell the banana more than you can taste it. These are delicious, even with hardly any sugar in them. Bonus!

Here is the recipe with my modifications:

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream 1 stick butter and 1 egg together until smooth. Gradually beat in 1/4 c. mashed ripe banana, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 1/2 c. brown sugar. Add zest from 1/2 tangelo. Mix well with wooden spoon.

In a large bowl, mix 1 c. whole wheat flour, a quick shake of salt, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 and 1/2 c. oats, 1/4 c. unsweetened coconut, 1/2 c. finely chopped pecans, and 1/2 c. raisins. Grab the wooden spoon again and combine all the dry ingredients. Now, mix the dry with the wet ingredients until there is no sign of dryness.

Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto baking stone (or greased cookie sheet) 2 inches apart. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on wire rack. Try not to eat too many before husband gets home. After all, it is his birthday.

Hawaiian-Italian Mini-Sandwiches

Healthy?... No.
Yummy?... Yes.

Anastasia and I were at Costco and stumbled upon a sample table for this lovely creation. So, we bought all of the ingredients in bulk size and have been enjoying the treat every couple of days. Next, we will take a long hiatus from this snack, so our cholesterol levels can get back to normal.

Slice Hawaiian Sweet Rolls in half. Insert a half slice of Havarti cheese and a piece of Mortadella meat in the center. Eat 'em up.

Black-eyed Peas & Collard Greens

Y'all prepare yourselves. A little of my southern heritage is about to come out...
Black-eyed peas are another easy-to-cook meal, especially when you use a crock pot (I got the crock pot idea from Jeff Foxworthy and his daddy in The Foxworthy Down-Home Cookbook: No Arugula, No Pate...No Problem!)! The beans do not need to be soaked ahead of time, which is great since I usually come up with dinner plans the day of the meal. You do need to have a few hours though, so this is something I make on my days off. Here's how you do it:

Get out your crock-pot.
Put in a chopped up onion (or, minced if you have to), clove of garlic, and about a pound of black-eyed peas (washed and sorted). Pour in enough broth to cover the peas by about an inch (if you don't have that much broth, just add water until you have enough liquid) and sprinkle with some pepper (I generally don't cook with salt, but this is where you would add it if you do).
I had a leftover ham bone today, so I threw that on top. In the past, I have used a couple slices of bacon for flavor, or no meat at all if that is your preference!
Turn the pot on "high" and leave it alone for about 4 hours...

Next, I wash and slice my collard greens into about 1/2 inch strips. Don't use the tough stems. Just throw all of these on top, cover the pot back up, and turn it to "low". Get your cornbread started now, too.

Your dinner should be ready in about half of an hour, when the cornbread is done and the greens are no longer bright in color.

Cornbread

I found this recipe near the bulk cornmeal bin at WinCo. I really like it. There is no oil and just a touch of sweetness...

1 c. flour
1 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt (I use just a little shake or none at all)
1 c. plain yogurt
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking pan (I disagree with this. For cornbread to be worth eating, you must cook it in an iron skillet! If you don't have one, go to an antique store or estate sale and pick one up for about $20.). Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in yogurt and eggs. Stir only until well blended. Pour batter into skillet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly golden.

Beets & Greens

My colleague, Becky, shared this recipe with me, after gasping in horror when I was munching on beets for lunch one day and told her that I had composted the greens because I didn't know how to cook them. I understand now why she gasped. Beet greens are good and so simple to cook. Here's how we do it:

Slice the skin off your beets (really, not as big a deal as I thought it would be)and then slice the beets themselves. Put these in the bottom of a pot. Cover the beets with the green leaves (I discarded the stems... hoping I don't get in trouble for that!) and a tiny sprinkling of sea salt. Add a small amount of water (1/4 cup?) so the greens don't burn toward the end of cooking. Cover the pot and cook on low heat for 45 - 60 minutes.

"Salmon Fish" and Crackers

When I was a kid, one of my favorite lunch meals was tuna fish on crackers. I would make up the tuna fish in a little, brown, Tupperware bowl and open a roll of Ritz crackers...

I think my sister-in-law had a hunch I was pregnant long before others did when we went out to a long-awaited lobster dinner and I ordered salmon. Maine lobster is high in mercury and I am not one to take those kinds of risks. Tuna is in the same boat, no pun intended, and to this day I have not given any to Anastasia. Again, not worth the risk of mercury ingestion. Still, I have a hankering for tuna fish every now and then, so...

I came up with salmon fish. It's exactly the same, only you use a can of salmon instead of tuna. We still get the good omega 3 fatty acids for our brains, without the yucky mercury. Anastasia loves it, too, which is an added bonus. I use one can of salmon (wild caught from Alaska), a couple dollops of plain yogurt, a tablespoon of pickle relish, salt less season-all, and a squirt of mustard or Larrupin (delicious mustard dill sauce made in Humboldt County). Just bust out the crackers and eat it up!Despite the look on her face, she is loving this.

Pea Shoots?

What am I supposed to make with pea shoots?... Why, Ham, Egg, and Pea Shoot Salad, of course! This was quite tasty. Anastasia even ate her greens tonight... impressive. I didn't have ham, so we used a few pieces of bacon, cut up. I like my eggs to come from happy chickens, so I always use cage-free; also, organic and veggie fed when I can find them. I wanted the eggs to be soft-boiled with runny middles, but got distracted by a child in dire need of entertainment. Next time. Still, it was a very yummy, last-minute dinner!

Pea shoots are crunchy. I like to eat things that crunch. Being green is just an added bonus.

Arugula Pesto Pasta Salad

I'm not exactly sure how this salad ranks on the health scale, but it is yummy, my child likes to eat it even though it is green, it is quick and easy, and it makes great leftovers for work lunches. I have just found a recipe for arugula pesto that helped Jason to love this dish, too. He is not a fan of basil pesto, but I made the arugula the other night and he loved it. Anastasia finally tried it (it is awfully green, and that alerts her to the vegetable within), stuffed the rest of the apple slice in her mouth, and made an I'm-trying-to-pretend-I'm-not-hating-this-because-mama-really-wanted-me-to-try-it face. What a trooper. We all clapped several times for her bravery. Thankfully, the rest of the ingredients of the pasta dish masked whatever did not appeal to her in the straight pesto.

I altered the pesto recipe a bit, because I felt it needed garlic to really be pesto and I thought honey would nicely complement the apple slices we dipped into the pesto. So, take the arugula pesto recipe, with lovely pictures of the finished product, by CSA Delivery and simply add one garlic clove and a teaspoon(ish) of honey. I am sorry that I don't have a pic of my finished product, but it looked the same as CSA Delivery's, minus the elegant glass and perfectly cut apple.

*A helpful piece of advice: I do not have a food processor. If you don't either, make sure you get rid of all the arugula stems before throwing it into the blender. Maybe chop up the leaves a bit, too. Blenders are not great for this recipe. I ended up using more oil than the recipe called for, which is not my favorite thing to do.

On to the pasta salad... this is a recipe I learned by word-of-mouth at a work potluck. In the past, I have used store-bought jars of pesto when it was not the season to have basil growing in my herb garden. Now that I have an arugula basil recipe, I may never need a jar again! This is good news, as I am aiming to get away from as much processed food as I can. This recipe is not an exact science. I have modified from what was told to me, and I encourage you to do the same. Please let me know if you come up with a neat alternative ingredient, so I can try, too!

Cook a bag of pasta. Drain, and throw into a big bowl. I like to use the curly noodles.
Throw in a can of chunk chicken, or leftovers from one that you cooked earlier in the week.
Add about a 1/2 cup of pesto (not quite all of a small jar).
Add plain yogurt for the consistency you prefer. I generally start with a cup of yogurt and add more until it looks like something I want to eat.
At this point, I am stirring it all together and adding yogurt as needed.

Easy, right? The hardest part is the pesto, if you make it from scratch, and even that is not difficult. Convenience is nice with a hungry child tugging at your leg after a long work day.

The recipe I was told used mayonaisse instead of yogurt. I don't use mayonaisse for anything other than leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches and the occasional batch of artichoke dip. (Now that I'm saying that, I'm going to try making the artichoke dip with yogurt instead.) So, use whatever you like. I am a fan of Nancy's Organic Fat-Free Plain Yogurt and try to always have it in my fridge.

Enjoy! I need to work on my food photography...