vegetarian Archive

creamy pesto pasta salad

For as long as I can remember, pasta salad has been one of my favorite summertime meals. First, there isn’t much actual cooking that happens with a pasta salad. This is key. When it is 90 degrees outside, I simply cannot stomach the thought of turning on my oven.

Secondly, there is so much creative liscence one can take with a cold pasta salad. The possibilities are endless! You can use any type of noodle for the base and then go nuts adding add in cheese(s), veggies, fruits, oils, vinegars, proteins, nuts, etc. I usually use pasta salad as an excuse to use up whatever random veggies I have in the fridge.

This particular pasta salad is one I’ve been dreaming up for awhile. I do read a lot of other food blogs (because I am a nerd), and have noticed a lot of pea & pesto combinations recently. I suppose it is the season for basil and peas, so the influx of pea/pesto recipes is not surprising. That being said, I just like the look of little green peas in a pasta salad. Especially when coupled with the rich green of a fresh basil pesto, there is just something so nice looking about a pesto and pea pasta. The other day I realized that I had a bunch of pine nuts on hand, fresh basil (growing in my kitchen window), and had a bag of frozen peas. It was time to make a delicious pea & pesto inspired pasta salad.

Nich & I trotted over to Pasta Works, to pick up some fresh pasta and pecorino romano cheese. I threw together the pesto, using the organic purple garlic I had on hand and noticed right away that this pesto was SPICY. I only used two cloves (and a dash of red chili flakes) of the purple garlic, but they really packed a punch. Granted, I love the flavor of garlic, but I didn’t want the basil to be overpowered So, I added in some extra basil, a few mint sprigs, fresh lemon juice and some greek yogurt to mellow it out. The yogurt really elevated the pesto to a whole new level. To be clear – this is not a traditional pesto. The addition of the yogurt makes it more of a ‘creamy pesto sauce’. Whatever you want to call it – it was awesome. And really great for pasta salad. (Plus, Nich says its the best pesto he’s ever had. I think he really meant it, as he ate on this pasta salad for 3 days, with no complaints.)

I based the pesto on Mark Bittman’s recipe (from How to Cook Everything), but did a lot of tweaking/additions.

Creamy Pesto Pasta Salad (with Peas!)

1 lb bag of pasta (bowtie, penne, fusili, etc)
2 cups of basil leaves, big stems discarded, rinsed and dried
Salt to taste
½ to 2 cloves garlic, crushed (I used organic purple garlic. spicy & delicious!)
2 tablespoons pine nuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or more
½ cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano, Parmesean or other hard cheese
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
The leaves from 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint
The juice of 1/2 of a lemon
A dash of red chili flakes
1 bag of frozen green peas (thawed, rinsed, & patted dry)

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside for later.

Combine the basil, mint, salt, garlic, chili flakes, pine nuts, lemon juice and about half the oil in a food processor or blender.

Process, stopping to scrape down the sides of the container occasionally, and adding the rest of the oil gradually. Add additional oil if you prefer a thinner mixture. Stir in the parmesan & greek yogurt by hand just before serving.

Toss the (thawed) peas, cooked pasta, and creamy pesto mixture together. Chill before serving, and garnish with pine nuts or finely chopped basil/mint (if you so desire).

As a warning, this makes a lot of pasta salad…Nich & I ate on this for 3 days!

pickled sugar snap peas (!)

Summer has officially arrived in Portland. The sun has finally decided to show her lovely face.

I will admit, I was at my wits end – I thought that summer would never arrive. Every day I would wake up to clouds, rain, and gloom. Every day I would check on my sad little garden, which Mother Nature seemed to be intent on drowning.

And then one day, the doom and gloom was gone. The sun came out, my plants perked up, and my heart was happy. And all of the sudden, I had a happy garden that was ready for eating! After months of waiting, I now have ripe sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, rhubarb, lettuce, rainbow chard, and TONS of raspberries. I never knew that food could taste so fresh. There is just something magical about eating food that comes from your own yard (and your own hard work!).

That being said, I have a bunch of sugar snap peas right now. And, while I love sugar snap peas – I don’t exactly know what to DO with them. They are delicious raw, in a salad, or in a stiry fry. But that is about all I know to do with sugar snap peas. I’m not complaining about my lack of recipes, they are just one of those veggies that you don’t often see in other things. And I wanted to do something unexpected with them. And, then, I saw a recipe for pickled sugar snap peas.

I knew, long ago, that this would be the “summer of pickling”. Pickling is a gardener’s best friend, as it is a great way to preseve your produce (and make it last throughout the year). Plus, I just love the taste of all things pickled. This pickled sugar snap pea recipe looked really simple – and strangely delicious – and so I officially kicked off my summer of pickling with sugar snap peas. The peas are supposed to pickle for 2 weeks, so I can’t officially comment on how they taste yet. But, being the impatient person that I am — I tried a couple of them after two days of pickling and they were delicious! Crunchy, sweet, sour, and spicy. I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait the full two weeks!

In any case, even if you aren’t growing snap peas – this is a great recipe to use if you can get your hands on some good peas. I was at my local farmers market yesterday and there were snap peas everywhere! They are very much in season right now and would be easy to get your hands on for this recipe.

Pickled Sugar Snap Peas
From Smitten Kitchen who Adapted from The Joy of Pickling

1 1/4 cups white distilled vinegar (I used 1 cup of white vinegar, and 1/4 cup of a fancy herbed vinegar my mother-in-law bought me)
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 tablespoon kosher or pickling salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed and strings removed
4 garlic cloves, sliced
dried red pepper flakes, 5 or 6 shakes from a shaker jar if you like things spicy

In a nonreactive saucepan, heat the vinegar with the salt and sugar until they are dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add the cold water which starts the cooling process faster.

When the vinegar mixture is cool, pack the sugar snaps, garlic and flakes into a 1-quart jar and pour the brine over it. Cover with a non-reactive cap.

The original recipe suggests you store the jar in the refrigerator for two weeks before eating the pickled peas, but it is likely that you will start eating them the next day, and the jar will be gone a few days later. :)

smashed pea & mint pesto

As promised, here is another recipe I made for Cait’s bridal shower. I saw the recipe on The Kitchn last week, and decided to make it for the shower as it requires only 5 ingredients. And, I happened to have all 5 ingredients onhand (bonus points for me having a stocked pantry?)!

While The Kitchn calls this a ‘bruschetta’ I think it more resembles a pesto, and so I’m calling it a pesto. Whatever you feel like calling it, this is the perfect spring/summer appetizer. Its light, fresh, healthy, and oh-so-pretty to look at.

Smashed Pea & Mint Pesto
Adapted from Real Simple

1 bag of frozen shelled green peas, thawed
2 large sprigs of fresh mint (about 2 tbl, chopped)
Olive oil
Salt & fresh ground pepper

Lightly pulse the thawed peas and chopped mint in a food processor. Drizzle in olive oil, and pulse again for just a moment. Season with salt and pepper to your liking. And that’s it! Seriously, its that easy. (I’m sure one could do a lot of different variations on this recipe — add garlic, or lemon juice, or parsley, etc. But seriously, its delicious just as it is!)

Baked Lemon Cream Pasta with Fresh Herbs

I’ve had this little doozy of a recipe sitting in my “to cook” pile for awhile. (Most people make “to do” lists. I make “to cook” lists.). The original blog I got this recipe from did a great job of selling me on this simple, elegant pasta. Her photos are fantastic, her instructions are great, and so I was inspired to make this dish.

However, like most recipes in my “to cook” pile, I was just waiting for the right excuse to make it.

I’ve been having bi-weekly girl dates with my friend Nicole for a little while now, and I always look forward to our time together. Nicole is married to Blake, who happens to be good friends with Nich. They have a beautiful little girl named Lillian, who I adore with my whole heart. (I blame Lillian for tugging at my heartstrings and reminding me that I do have maternal instincts hidden in me somewhere.)

Nicole and I usually go out for our bi-weekly girl dates and leave the boys (and baby) behind. But, since our husbands happen to be friends and like to hang out with each other – we decided that girl date this week would include husbands and baby. I was in charge of the main course, and Blake and Nicole provided sides and wine (Blake works for a wine distributor and always has access to fabulous wines). Since I was bringing food over to their place, I wanted something simple and relatively portable. This is the perfect recipe for such a situation.

I made the pasta and lemon cream sauce ahead of time, and tossed it together into a baking dish. The pasta bakes rather quickly (20 minutes or so), so I just brought the pre-baked pasta (and garnishes for post-baking) over to Blake and Nicole’s place, and finished it in their oven. It was quick, easy, and remarkably delicious. While it may not be the fanciest of dishes (it is, after all, baked in a casserole dish. and that just feels un-fancy.), it tastes quite elegant. To be quite honest…the more I cook, the more I realize that simplicity is best. It doesn’t need to look pretty, it just needs to taste good. And, I’m learning more and more that simple, fresh, and quality ingredients are the keys to great food. When using quality ingredients, the ingredients speak for themselves.

Baked Lemon Cream Pasta with Fresh Herbs
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman
*note the original recipe did not use greek yogurt, basil, pine nuts, or nutmeg. I added those because I felt like it. I will say that in my opinion, the basil is necessary to the recipe. it is so good! the nutmeg, pine nuts, and greek yogurt are optional.

Ingredients:
1 package of spaghetti or angel hair pasta (I used 1.5 packages: 1 package of whole wheat angel hair, and 1/2 a package of regular spaghetti. Its what I had on hand).
1 cup of sour cream (the original recipe called for 2 cups of sour cream, but I like greek yogurt better. hence my substitution)
1 cup of greek yogurt (I used non-fat. its what I had on hand.)
3-4 tablespoons of butter
2 tablesspoons of olive oil
2 lemons (the zest from one lemon, the juice from 2)
1/2 cup of finely grated parmesean cheese
1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1/3 cup Italian flat leafed parsley, finely chopped
1/3 cup of pine nuts (*optional)
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
salt & pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, bring some salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente. Strain, and set aside.
2. While the pasta is cooking, you can make your sauce. In a large saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter. Add in the olive oil, and stir until combined. Add in minced garlic, and let cook for 1 minute. Squeeze the juice of one lemon into the butter and oil mixture (be careful not to get seeds in it!). Turn off the heat and gently stir in the sour cream, greek yogurt, the zest of 1 lemon, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
3. In a large bowl (or the pot you used to cook the pasta), combine the sauce with the pasta noodles, until everything is coated evenly. Feel free to add a bit more olive oil or sour cream if the mixture looks dry at all.
4. Place pasta mixture into a baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
5. While the pasta is baking, toast the pine nuts in a small pan over medium heat until they are slightly browned (no oil is needed. use a dry pan). This should only take a couple of minutes. After the pasta has baked for 10-12 minutes, remove foil, and sprinkle the pasta with 1/2 of the parmesean cheese (set aside the rest for later) and pine nuts. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 of a lemon over the top. Place back in the oven and bake until the cheese has melted and the top of the pasta looks slightly golden (8-10 minutes).
6. Remove pasta from the oven. Right before serving, sprinkle with the rest of the parmesean cheese over the top along with the chopped basil and parsley. Squeeze a bit more lemon juice over the top. Eat and enjoy. :)

date night: roasted asparagus with poached farm fresh eggs

Last weekend, the most glorious thing happened to me: my husband had Saturday off.

Nich has worked on Saturday mornings at his coffee shop since I’ve known him. Saturday mornings are just not something we get to enjoy together. Instead, I spend Saturday mornings with my sister Danielle (we call this Saturdate) and we have a grand ole time. Lately, we’ve been going to the big PSU farmers market for our saturdates, and it is the highlight of my week. I just love it there.

So, last week, Nich was able to join us on Saturdate. I thought I was a geek at the farmer’s market, but my husband is much more so. He was like a kid in a candy shop (but a grown adult nerding out over truffles and produce and local and organic meat). I believe we left the farmer’s market that day with: one small bag of wild truffles, 1 lb ground beef from Deck Family Farms, 1 “salad bowl” (my pick – a bowl full of various lettuce plants for my garden), a herbs-de-provence havarti from a local creamery, 1 doz. farm fresh eggs, 1 bunch of asparagus, and 1 small portion of foie gras (cured with vanilla bean and armenoc) from a local charcuterie. Yes, you read that correctly. I know, I know, I am the advocate of all things humane and good and nice and ethical when it comes to meat. And yet I just told you that my husband bought foie gras. It isn’t something we partake in often (I’ve consumed it twice in my whole life), and it isn’t something I plan on buying often (if ever). I won’t get into any arguments right now about the ethics of it, but I will say that for whatever reason: it just doesn’t bother me that much. (For those of you unfamiliar with foie gras, this is how wikipedia defines it.)

That being said, we came home with a boat load of goodies from the farmers market. Rather than spend our Saturday together doing normal things that other normal people might do (which, lets be honest…what do normal people do? I wouldn’t know.), Nich and I decided to make ourselves an amazing dinner. We grabbed a few more delectables at our favorite little Italian Grocery (Pasta Works) and set about making our feast. The feast didn’t actually require much cooking, as it ended up being a very antipasti-style dinner. This is what we ended up with: spanish sardines in olive oil, crostinis, herbs-de-provence havarti cheese, foie gras, apple slices, pickled green beans, and poached farm fresh eggs over roasted asparagus.

It was ridiculously good. It was all simple, quality ingredients purchased from local vendors and every bite was full of flavor and life. The poached farm eggs had such beautiful orange yolks – so much happier and more vibrant than any egg you’ll find in any grocery store. It just further proved to Nich and I that it is really worth it to spend a few extra dollars to buy our meat, eggs, and dairy from local farms. It just tastes (and looks) so much better.

In any case, this was our first time poaching eggs and I was quite nervous. I googled ‘how to poach the perfect egg’ and came across this site, which was actually quite helpful. And thanks to Nich’s steady hand and culinary skills, we poached perfect eggs! (And by we…I really mean HE. He poached the eggs, I can take no credit.)

So, if you are looking for the ‘trick’ to poaching the perfect egg, or if you’re looking for a good date night dish (I wouldn’t call it an entree on its own), here’s my recipe.

Roasted Asparagus with Poached Farm Fresh Eggs

1 small bunch of asparagus (the thinner the asparagus stalks, the better)
2 – 4 farm fresh eggs (1 per person you are serving)
1 tsp cider vinegar
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

1. Trim the asparagus ends, and spread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil (I used an herbed olive oil that I had in the pantry) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a 400 degree oven until done to your liking (this should not take long, asparagus roasts quickly).

2. For the eggs: use a medium sized skillet (note: not a big pot!) that has a lid. Fill the skillet with 3″ of water. Cover and heat the water on high heat. Meanwhile, crack each egg into a separate small bowl or coffee mug. Having each egg in a separate small container will make poaching so much easier.

3. Bring the water to a steady/rolling boil and remove the lid. Add one tablespoon of vinegar (any kind will do) to the water, as this helps the egg white bind and stay together.

4. Lower one of the egg containers (bowl/cup/etc) gently into the water and let the egg flow out of the cup into the water. Put the lid back on the pot. Immediately turn the heat to LOW and and set your timer for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, gently scoop the egg out of the water with a slotted spoon and let any water drain off the egg. Either transfer the egg directly on top of the roasted asparagus – or if the asparagus isn’t ready yet, you can transfer it to a plate. Sprinkle generously with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Note: the one thing about this recipe is the timing. No one wants to each a cold poached egg! So make sure to get your asparagus roasting before you poach your eggs. You can poach all of your eggs at once, but since we were new at this and didn’t want to end up with ugly eggs, we did them one at a time. We have also heard that making a slight whirlpool motion in the water helps to form the egg white nicely and make a perfectly poached egg.

april: a foodie month (and, a recipe for cauliflower gorgonzola soup)

The last couples of weeks have been somewhat of a ‘foodie whirlwind’ for me.

First, there was my trip to Chicago. I ate like a Queen! I had a list of twenty places I wanted to eat, and only four nights (and rather non-existent lunch breaks)in which to try to fit in all the culinary wonders Chicago has to offer.

For those of you who care about such things, this is where I ended up (and what I ate):
Paul Kahan’s Publican – Striped Sea Bass with Pork Belly, Shaved Fennell and Hazelnuts
The Green Zebra (high-end vegetarian) – Roasted Beet Terrine with goat cheese, Cauliflower Pot De Creme with Brioche Toast, Creamed Asparagus Soup, and Sunchoke Ravioli with baby greens and medjool dates.
Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill – Tamarind Margarita and the special seasonal mole with (local/sustainable) Pork Tenderloin, local fruits and cornbread. (For those of you not familiar with Rick Bayless, he won Top Chef Masters on Bravo last year, and he is a wonderful man with a knack for authentic Mexican cuisine and who is dedicated to championing the rights of the migrant worker, and championing the use of local and sustainable ingredients.)

So, there was all that deliciousness. And then I got home and felt like I hadn’t cooked a meal for myself (or others) in ages! I missed being in the kitchen. So, I promptly started cooking. I invited my friend Kari over for gourmet pizzas (with truffle oil, aged balsalmic and fresh mozzarella. I’ll admit, they didn’t turn out as well as I hoped, so I’m not posting them here). I had my friend Laura over two nights later and made Cauliflower and Gorgonzola soup with a Pear Relish (recipe to follow in this post). I made a cold thai peanut noodle salad for my weekly girls night (for the recipe, click HERE). Taylor and Brittany asked if Nich and I were up for another food challenge (of course we were!) and so we spent a night slaving in the kitchen over four new mystery ingredients.

That being said, after the cooking craziness of the past few weeks, I think I may lay low tonight. Its been a good run these past couple of weeks, but I think I need a night where I don’t end up with a sink full of dishes (and a really full stomach). So, tonight I shall fry up a veggie burger (Trader Joes Potato Masala burger…mmmm…) and it will be easy and tasty. And while I take the night off, maybe some of you are in the mood for culinary adventures. And if you are, this cauliflower soup is quite the palette-pleaser. It is delightfully rich and creamy, without being over-bearing. The pear relish adds a gentle sweetness that really balances the strong flavor of the gorgonzola in the soup.

Cauliflower Soup with Gorgonzola and Pickled Pear Relish
Adapted from Conscious Crumbs who adapted it from from Skye Gyngell’s A Year in My Kitchen.

Ingredients:
1 medium cauliflower, broken into small florets
1-2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs thyme, plus extra to garnish
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Liter of vegetable stock (homemade is best, but alas I was all out so I used Trader Joes brand)
1/2 lb Gorgonzola crumbles
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
chopped parsely or fresh thyme leaves for garnish

Pear Relish
1 Tbl unsalted butter
3 Tbl dried cranberries, soaked for 10 minutes in water to soften
3 ripe pears peeled and chopped into a 1/2 inch dice
1/4 cup of cider vinegar
2 T granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
3 sprigs thyme

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onions and sweat for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add cauliflower, thyme, bay leaves, and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring now and then, for 2 minutes. Add the stock, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft.

Meanwhile, make the relish. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the pears and cook for 3-5 minutes until they soften. Add the other ingredients and cook, uncovered, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes, until thick and glossy. Remove the thyme. Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Fish out the thyme and bay leaves from the pot. Stir in the gorgonzola and cream. Pour into a blender and whiz until smooth. (Or use an immersion blender, which is what I use. The immersion blender is my favorite kitchen tool!) Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle soup into shallow bowls. Spoon a generous tablespoon of relish into the center and sprinkle with thyme or parsely.

lamb legs, egg salad, & the windy city.

A wise woman by the name of Alanis Morisette once said the words “And life has a funny, funny way, of sneaking up on you.”

Its true, Alanis. Life has this funny way of sneaking up on you and before you know it, the entire month of April has magically disappeared.

That being said, I’m off to Chicago tomorrow for a business trip, and I haven’t had much time to cook or post in recent weeks. Since I can’t imagine that any of you will be roasting a leg of lamb any time soon, I will spare you my cheeky observations and simply link you to the amazing recipe I used for our Easter feast. I cannot get over how good the lamb was! And I will admit, the recipe is a bit of work (i.e. probably not the best for a quick weeknight meal) but would be perfect for any holiday, family gathering, dinner party, etc. The only change that Nich and I made to the recipe was that we pulled the lamb out of the oven a little bit early and then finished the lamb on the grill for a few minutes, which worked out rather nicely.

Here’s my darling husband and my adorable mom (with the delicious leg of lamb, of course):

I’m still waiting on pictures from Taylor & Brittany for our second cook-off challenge (HINT HINT), but I did whip up a delightful egg salad last week that I will share with you all. I was inspired by all the post-Easter egg salad recipes that were floating about the blog world and decided to create my own from ingredients I had on hand. It was everything I was hoping for: mustardy, herby, eggy goodness.

Maybe I’m crazy, but I’m a sucker for a good egg salad. And this, my friends, was a good egg salad.

Garden-inspired egg salad (and/or “things I had in my fridge/garden/pantry egg salad”)

12 eggs
3-4 tbs of Mayo (I used Veganaise, which is what I had on hand and I think tastes better than real mayo anyway).
1 tbl spicy dijon mustard
1 tbl yellow mustard
A splash of white vinegar
1 tbl chopped cilantro
1 tbl chopped fresh dill
1/2 of a shallot, finely diced
A pinch of sugar
Salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste.

While there are many theories on how to perfectly hard boil an egg, I used this method and it worked out pretty nicely (my only complaint is that my eggs didn’t peel as nicely as I would have liked, but since these were just being chopped up to go into egg salad it doesn’t really matter): Put all your eggs into a large pot. Cover with cold water, no more than one inch above the eggs. Put the pot on the stove and bring the water just to a boil. Remove from heat, and cover with a lid. Let the eggs sit in the hot water for 15-17 minutes. After this time, rinse the eggs with cold water to stop the cooking process. For the egg salad, peel and dice the eggs.

Mix the diced eggs with all the above ingredients (I guessed on the measurements, the most important thing is to make it taste how you want it to taste!) and serve on toasted bread with your choice of fixins. I ate mine with whole wheat sourdough, tomato, pepper jack cheese, and organic leafy greens from my garden!