Homemade Pesto

This was my first time making pesto and I can't believe I haven't tried this before. Its so easy to make! Unbelievably simple and so delicious. There are many serving options with pesto including with chicken, vegetables, and pasta. I served the pesto over whole wheat pasta. I rarely make dishes that include pasta but this was absolutely delicious and worth the extra carbs. This recipe makes 1 cup of pesto and I am looking forward to using the leftover pesto as a dip for vegetables.

 

Recipe:

2 packed cups fresh basil leaves

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup Parmesan cheese (optional)

1/3 cup pine nuts

3 garlic cloves, minced

Salt & pepper to taste

1. Put basil, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until everything is chopped.
2. Add the olive oil and Parmesan and pulse again until smooth.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper
4. Enjoy immediately or make a bigger batch and freeze leftovers.

A couple notes:

I used pine nuts but cashews or walnuts can also be used.

I used a food processor to chop and blend the ingredients but a blender can also be used. Be sure to use a spatula to clean the sides of the bowl occasionally.

The Parmesan is optional and I included in my pesto.

Extra pesto can be frozen and thawed later when you are ready to use.

Enjoy!

Bean Salad

This is a quick and easy recipe that I've made several times. It serves as a great side dish to a meal or a popular party salad! The colors are beautiful and the flavors really open up and work well together to create a tasty and filling dish. This is a basic version of the bean salad that I make but you can add almost anything that you would like. Fresh basil or cucumber would be great additions!

 

Bean Salad Recipe:

2 cans white beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can red kidney beans

1 (2 oz) can sliced black olives

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

½ yellow onion, diced

4 green onions, sliced

Salt & Pepper

Dressing Recipe:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar

½ tablespoon honey

Salt & Pepper

1. Drain and rinse white beans, garbanzo beans, and red kidney beans in a strainer.
2. Combine beans, tomatoes, olives, onion, and green onion in a large bowl.
3. Whisk ingredients together for the dressing in a small bowl. Adjust flavors to your taste.
4. Pour dressing over bean salad and stir carefully with a large spoon to combine well.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

A couple notes:

This is a great recipe to make the day before and refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy!

Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp with Lemony Quinoa

This is a delicious light and fresh dinner dish! I found the Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp recipe on the Martha Stewart website and the Lemony Quinoa recipe at allrecipes.com. I have never cooked with quinoa before but it is actually quite easy to cook and has a great texture. The rosemary and lemon zest flavors in the shrimp recipe are absolutely mouth watering. The shrimp paired fantastically with the lemony quinoa. Served over a bed of baby spinach this healthy dinner was very light and satisfying!

 

Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp Recipe:

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

Juice and zest from 1 lemon

Coarse sea salt

Freshly ground white pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine shrimp, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, 1 tablespoon rosemary, and half of the lemon zest; season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.
2. Preheat grill pan over medium-high heat. Place shrimp on pan and cook, turning once, until cooked through, about 1 minute per side. Transfer shrimp to serving platter and drizzle with remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon rosemary and lemon zest. Serve immediately.

A couple notes:

I used frozen pre-cooked shrimp. After thawing I followed the recipe and let simmer in pan until heated through.

I didn't have a grill pan so I used a skillet to heat the shrimp.

The recipe calls for white pepper but I used freshly ground black pepper.

Lemony Quinoa Recipe:

¼ cup pine nuts

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

Sea salt to taste

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 stalks celery, chopped

¼ red onion, chopped

¼ cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

1. Toast the pine nuts briefly in a dry skillet over medium heat. This will take about 5 minutes, and stir constantly as they will burn easily. Set aside to cool.
2. In a saucepan, combine the quinoa, water and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook until quinoa is tender and water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes. Cool slightly, then fluff with fork.
3. Transfer the quinoa to a serving bowl and stir in the pine nuts, lemon juice, celery, onion, cayenne pepper, cumin and parsley. Adjust salt and pepper if needed before serving.

A couple notes:

I used toasted pine nuts so I was able to skip the first step.

I slightly softened the onion and celery by sauteing them in a saucepan with olive oil for a couple minutes adding the cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper.

I added a can of white beans to the lemony quinoa mixture for added texture and fiber.

Enjoy!

Warm Beet and Spinach Salad

The New Year has inspired me to cook healthy meals and continue to expand my culinary creativeness. I had spinach left over from my Spinach and White Bean soup so a warm light salad sounded like the perfect recipe. This was my first time using fresh beets but cooking them was surprisingly easy. This recipe provides 4 servings and there is only 122 calories per serving! I found this recipe on the Eating Well website. One of my favorite resources for healthy recipes. The balsamic vinegar served as a delicious dressing on this salad and the beets were so filling. I was full after one serving and have left-overs for lunch tomorrow!

 

Recipe:

8 cups baby spinach

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced red onion

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons sliced Kalamata olives

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups steamed beet wedges, or slices, ½ – 1 inch thick

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

To Prep & Steam Beets:

1. Trim greens and rood end; peel the skin with a vegetable peeler.
2. Cut beets into ½ – 1 inch thick wedged.
3. Place in steamer basket over 1 inch boiling water in a large pot. Cover and steam over high heat until tender, 15-25 minutes.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Salad:

1. Place spinach in a large bowl.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring until starting to soften, about 2 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes, olives, parsley and garlic and cook, stirring, until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 3 minutes.
4. Add beets, vinegar, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the beets are heated through, about 1 minute more.
5. Add the beet mixture to the spinach and toss to combine. Serve warm.

A couple notes:

The beets took longer to soften than I expected while steaming. After 20 minutes, I poked a couple of the wedges with a fork every 4-5 minutes to check their tenderness.

I didn't have Kalamata olives on-hand so I omitted them from the recipe. If I had included them, I know they would have added great flavor to this salad.

I added toasted pine nuts on top of the salad for a nice crunch.

If you would like to add some cheese, goat cheese would be the perfect creamy sweetness in this salad.

Enjoy!

Spinach and White Bean Soup

I was looking for a light healthy soup to make and I found this recipe on the Washington Post website. The use of spinach, garlic, and vegetables made this soup filling and absolutely delicious. The beans also provide a great source of fiber. The oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper added so much flavor and this soup turned out so warm and tasty it became one of my favorite soup recipes!

 

Recipe:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 medium cloves garlic, minced

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into small dice

1 rib celery, cut into small dice

1 tablespoon flour

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 14 ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with juice

1 15 ounce can cannellini or other white beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried rosemary

2 cups washed, stemmed and coarsely chopped spinach leaves

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery; stir to coat, then cook for 6 minutes, stirring often to keep the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The vegetables will have softened.
2. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes, then add the broth, tomatoes with their juice, beans, oregano and rosemary; bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.
3. Add the spinach and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to incorporate so the spinach wilts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

A couple notes:

I omitted the can of diced tomatoes from this recipe because I didn't have any on-hand and I wanted to taste this recipe without the use of tomatoes.

I added 2 cans of cannellini or white beans to the soup. I used a fork to crush one can of beans to thicken the soup.

I added one bay leaf to the soup to add that little something extra.

I served this soup with Parmesan on top.

Enjoy!

Baked Shrimp with Feta and Tomato

One of my friends suggested that I try this recipe and I happily obliged. I love seafood and don't cook nearly enough of it as I would like. I was intrigued by the use of vermouth in this recipe and its distinct flavor added a lot to this savory dish. I was also surprised about how filling this shrimp dinner was. I was stuffed!

 

Recipe:

¼ cup butter

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 ½ pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

¾ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

¾ cup dry vermouth

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes

4 ounces crumbled feta

Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put the butter and garlic into a large skillet, and place over medium-high heat. Once the butter has belted and the garlic begins to sizzle, stir in the shrimp, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Cook until the shrimp are firm and opaque, about 5 minutes.
3. Season with salt, then stir in the chopped parsley, and pour into a casserole dish.
4. Pour vermouth into the skillet, and simmer until reduced by half. Add chopped tomatoes and continue cooking until heated through. Spoon tomato mixture on top of the shrimp and sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese.
5. Bake in preheated oven until the cheese softens and turns golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

A couple notes:

I used frozen large shrimp for this recipe. Thawed them first and they worked very well. They were pre-cooked so they just needed to heat in the pan and absorb flavor.

I added a small amount of shredded Parmesan to the feta and the sharp cheese added great flavor.

Enjoy!