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Zucchini Fusilli

Zucchini is another one of my favorite summer vegetables. It always taste so fresh and light, and really brightens up a meal. I usually just saute zucchini and summer squash or grill it, so I was in search of a recipe that actually incorporated zucchini into the main meal versus it just being a side. Sunset magazine had this delicious sounding recipe for Zucchini Fusilli.

Ingredients:

4 medium sized zucchini
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup pesto
1/3 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon plus 1 tbsp. salt, divided
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 box fusilli
1 cup fresh finely shredded Parmesan cheese (about 2 oz.), divided

Crab Corn and Tomato Salad with Lemon-Basil Dressing

With a fridge full of beautiful ears of bi-sweet corn, I am on a bit of a corn kick. I am always in search of meals that I think can be made the night ahead and eaten for lunch the next day, and this one fit the bill. I modified the original recipe for this Crab Corn and Tomato Salad (from Cooking Light of course) to work as a lunch meal.

Ingredients:

Grated lemon rind from 2 lemons

Lemon juice from 2 lemons

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup fresh corn kernels (about 1 ears)

2 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion

1/2 pound lump crab meat, shell pieces removed

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

To make the dressing, combine the zest, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, and Dijon mustard. Season with salt and pepper. Stir well with a whisk until the olive oil is incorporated. To make the Crab Corn and Tomato Salad, add the corn, basil, bell pepper, red onion, crab meat, and tomatoes to the dressing. Toss gently to coat.

I love citrus with any kind of seafood. Lemon brightens the dish overall and works so well with the crab and tomatoes. Because I let it sit overnight, the citrus flavor really had time to soak in. This is really a great make-ahead meal!

Garlic and Dill Smashed Potatoes

I love how purple viking potatoes look. They are so fun. There was no way I was willing to remove all of the skin to make mashed potatoes, so once again, here is a smashed potato recipe. The potatoes were another ingredient in my CSA share this week. The CSA share also came with dill so I incorporated that as well.

Ingredients:

1 bag of purple viking potatoes, washed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon chopped dill (plus more for garnish)

Freshly ground black pepper

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pasta pot. Add the potatoes and cook until fork tender, about 15 minutes.

Drain and transfer to a medium sized bowl.

Using a potato masher or a whisk, firmly press down on each potato, smashing them.

In a saute pan, add a small amount of the butter and the minced garlic over medium heat. Cook for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and add to the potatoes. Stir in the buttermilk, remaining butter and dill. Pour in the buttermilk a little bit at a time, so that you don’t over pour. You don’t want soupy potatoes! Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

I can never get enough potatoes; I love how versatile they are. The dill and buttermilk add a lot of great flavor to the potatoes and the purple-ish skin adds beautiful color to the dish!

Quinoa Salad with Parsley. Or…. Tabbouleh.

Have you ever started creating a recipe, and thought to yourself “Wow! This is going to be awesome! Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?” Well, probably because they have. And you just didn’t know it. That is what happened to me this weekend. I was so proud of how my “Quinoa Salad” turned out, but then my boyfriend kindly pointed out that is was a take on Tabbouleh, without the mint. Whoops. Anyways, here is my mint-less Tabbouleh.

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups chicken broth

1 large cucumber, or 3 small cucumbers, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped

Most quinoa you’ll find in the supermarket has already been soaked and rinsed. But another rise won’t hurt it if you prefer to do so. Measure out 1 cup quinoa and put it in a mesh strainer. Rinse under cool water allowing to drain out the bottom. This helps to remove the coating on quinoa, called saponin, that can taste soapy. Again, most quinoa is already pre-rinsed.

Begin by cooking the quinoa. Add the quinoa and chicken broth to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat or until the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool.

While the quinoa is cooking and cooling, chop your cucumber and tomatoes.

Prepare your onion and garlic.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until the onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.

Remove the garlic cloves. Allow the onions to cool. Combine the quinoa, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and the chopped parsley. Zest the lemon over the mixture and squeeze lemon juice over the dish.

Serve cold. Garnish with additional parsley, optional.

This was a light-tasting but filling dish, perfect for a hot summer lunch or dinner. I feel kind of silly for essentially making a pretty common dish, but at least I’m beginning to understand which ingredients work well together!

Top Sirloin Steak with Crispy Buttered Garlic

I think my parents worry about my somewhat limited meat intake. It’s not that I don’t like meat, I just tend to grab seafood or cook with the veggies in my CSA share instead. Last time I saw them, they gave me two top sirloin steaks from Omaha steaks, woo hoo! I thought I’d try broiling them, but straight on the rack in the hopes of getting “grill” marks on the steak. I found this method on Food Network’s site, an Alton Brown recipe, and decided to add a little garlic on top to make it my own.

Ingredients: (I just made one serving)
1 top sirloin steak
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Begin by setting your oven to broil. Brush the steak with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom rack in the oven to catch drippings. Place the steak straight on to the middle rack.

Broil for 6 minutes. Turn the steak over and broil for another 6 minutes.

While the steak is cooking, melt the butter over medium heat in a saute pan. Add the garlic.

Cook until it begins to brown and remove from heat.

Remove the steak from the oven and top with the crispy garlic.

So, I didn’t get any “grill” marks. Boo. But the steak was cooked wonderfully! It was really juicy and tender. The garlic added a little crunch to the dish and of course a little extra flavor.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Fennel and Rosemary

Wow. I haven’t used chicken in a recipe in over a month. I think it is time to finally give poultry it’s time in the limelight. I received fennel in my CSA share and thought this recipe for Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Fennel and Rosemary from Food & Wine sounded like a perfect use of the ingredient.

As a plus, I had all of the ingredients already in my kitchen, with the exception of the chicken.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock. divided
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced

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Shrimp Tomato Basil Linguine with Warm Goat Cheese Rounds

I had some left over goat cheese from my Orecchiette with Swiss Chard, Red Peppers and Goat Cheese dish. When I was looking for recipes, I came across this one for Shrimp Tomato Basil Linguine with Warm Goat Cheese Rounds from Cooking Light. I had no clue how seafood and goat cheese would be together, but was willing to find out!

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) box linguine
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 (4-ounce) package log-shaped goat cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium (~1 cup) onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 plum tomatoes (~2 1/2 cups), roughly chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil

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Cilantro Lime Hummus

I can never have enough hummus, it is one of my favorite snacks (although I tend to eat so much of it, it’s not really a snack!) I’ve had hummus on the brain for a while now. Be Well Philly must have read my mind, because they posted this great Cilantro Lime hummus recipe that I just had to try. As a plus, cilantro came in my CSA share this week!

Ingredients:

1 garlic scape, roughly chopped (or 2 cloves garlic)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 14-oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
Juice and zest of 2 limes

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Garlic Scape Pesto

I’m sure you read this post title and was wondering why I’m making Garlic Scape Pesto.

This week, I received garlic scapes with my CSA half share. What the heck is a garlic scape you may ask?

When garlic is growing, the scape is the green shoot that pops out of the earth. Farmers need to trim these so that the garlic can continue to grow. But the actual green shoot also packs in a bunch of garlicky goodness, although more mild and with a touch of grass smell.

The scapes are kind of scary looking but I was willing to try using them, who knows when I’ll come across these again! Because they are a more delicate version of garlic, scapes are best used raw.

I came across a recipe for Garlic Scape Pesto on the blog In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie which seemed like a good way to use a bunch of the scapes. I substituted walnuts for the almonds, mainly because my poor boyfriend is allergic and I didn’t want to mistakenly serve him something with almonds in it, and I added in some basil to help cut some of the scape flavor. I also cut the recipe in half to test it out, I can always make more later!

Ingredients:

5 garlic scapes, finely chopped
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Salt, to taste

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Berry Sangria

I have a bunch of fruit left over from my Berries with Lemon Mint Syrup. It’s a lovely warm weekend in Philadelphia which immediately made me think of sangria. What a perfect way to use more of these berries!

Ingredients:

A bowl full of mixed berries (strawberries, hulled, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries)
1 1/2 cups of triple sec
1 1/2 cups cranberry juice (I used cran-raspberry juice)
1/2 cup simple syrup (left over from my Mojitos)
1 bottle of white wine
1-2 cups ginger ale or club soda, to taste
Ice cubes
Mint, optional

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Chocolate Mint Pudding

Chocolate Mint Pudding. Need I say more? This recipe is actually really easy, and it tastes amazing. I made a few changes to the original recipe depending on what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

3 cups fat-free milk
1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

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Yellow Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

My little sister is graduating college and her party is next weekend. She asked me to make a cake for her and I couldn’t say no. So I decided to do a test batch this week to make sure I like the recipe (she asked for yellow cake with chocolate icing). I naturally can’t just buy cake in a box, so I’m going to make yellow cake with dark chocolate ganache with raspberries.

Ingredients for cake (this makes enough for 2 9-inch cake pans):

1 cup unsalted butter
2 ½ cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 ½ cups buttermilk
3 ¾ cups cake flour (you can use all-purpose flour as a substitute)
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
Cooking spray

Ingredients for ganache:

16 ounces chocolate, finely chopped (I used dark chocolate)
2 cups heavy whipping cream

This is a double layer cake, so I also needed icing for in between the two layers. You can just buy chocolate icing in the store and use that, but I only want to deliver the best for the little sister.

Ingredients for chocolate frosting:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
¼ teaspoon salt
16 oz chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Irish Stew

I joined a food swap, and the first swap is coming up next week, so I decided to make Irish Stew.

While researching Irish Stew, I couldn’t find a recipe I liked, so I decided to wing it.

I also have yet to attempt to use my slow cooker, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to do so. Here’s hoping it turns out ok…

Ingredients:

3 medium-size onions, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon garlic powder, or 3 garlic cloves, minced
4 pounds lamb shoulder, cut into chunks (can substitute in beef)
7 carrots, chopped
3 leeks, chopped
3 tablespoons pearl barley
5 cups beef stock
1 bottle of Guinness
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1 bouquet of parsley, thyme, and bay leaves, plus more parsley for garnish
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped (leave this to prep last)
1 cup frozen peas

the ingredients took up my entire counter

Shish Kabobs with Rice

This weekend I was given quite the culinary challenge: make a meal for ten people without breaking the bank. I would be feeding everyone at the beach, so my mind immediately went to Shish Kabobs with Rice (I want summer and barbecues to be here so badly!). This is a great option for vegetarians as well, always a plus.

Living in the city does not mean you can’t enjoy this recipe. If you have a little indoor grill, that will work just fine. Due to the poor weather we had this weekend, we actually ended up broiling the shish kabobs in the oven, which worked just fine.

Ingredients (serves 10):

3 pints cherry tomatoes
1 bag of pearl onions, peeled (quick tip below)
2 green bell peppers
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 orange pepper
2 8 oz packages of whole mushrooms (I used cremini)
1 large zucchini
2 large summer squash
5 lbs top sirloin steak, cut into cubes
10 cups chicken stock (ideally, use vegetable stock to keep veggies truly vegetarian)
5 cups rice

Ingredients for marinade:

1 tablespoon salt
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 heaping tablespoon of the following dried spices: thyme, basil, oregano, marjoram
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 2/3 cup red wine (an inexpensive table wine is fine)
5 bay leaves
1 large onion, thinly sliced
6-8 drops tabasco sauce

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Smoky Asparagus and Mushroom Saute

The April 2011 Issue of Cooking Light included a seemingly simple side dish using a type of mushroom I have yet to work with: Smoky Asparagus and Mushroom Saute. Morels are a wild mushroom; efforts to cultivate this mushroom have been mostly unsuccessful. Because they need to be “hunted” (those that collect morels are called mushroom hunters, I kid you not), they are super expensive– the market I went to was selling them for $69.99/lb., ouch. So this recipe can get pricey fast. I substituted in some hen of the woods (“Maitake”) mushrooms to save my wallet a bit. I ended up spending about $4 on the morels and a $1 and some change on the hen of the woods.

I had some left over asparagus from making the Orzo Risotto with Buttery Shrimp dish a few days ago so this dish was perfect to use ingredients I mostly had on hand.

Ingredients:

2 slices bacon
1 tablespoon butter (omit to make dairy free)
3 oz quartered fresh morel mushrooms
3 oz chopped hen of the woods
1 pound asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chopped chives

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