lunch

Arugula Pesto

September 20, 2017 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

Fall means a lot of things–pumpkin spice lattes (yeah, I’m basic, I admit it), crunchy leaves, cool jacket weather. All exciting things! Even though I’m really excited about fall, because of the changing seasons I lose daylight earlier and earlier every day. I usually make my blog posts in the afternoons, but it gets dark so early! This means easier recipes and less time in the kitchen. This arugula pesto takes five minutes, and it’s a great versatile sauce that you can add to pasta or really anything.

Sometimes the best creations happen from leftover ingredients at the back of the fridge. I’ve been really into food processor sauces like chimichurri and pesto that are versatile enough to put on anything. Arugula pesto is great spread on toast with a fried egg for breakfast. Or you can grill some steaks and add a dollop to the top like I did. There’s so many great ways to use this recipe. My version is even better than regular pesto, with the peppery arugula flavor.

This pesto has walnuts instead of pine nuts, but you can use walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, or really anything you can find to add the extra nutty flavor! If you want to serve with steak like me, I got two top sirloin steaks, left them out on the counter for an hour to bring up to room temperature, and salt and peppered both sides. Then I seared them in a nonstick pan over medium high flipping every minute or so for about ten to twelve minutes for medium steaks.

For the pesto, it’s about as easy as adding all the ingredients to a food processor and pulsing while slowly drizzling in the oil.

Look how delicious this looks! It’s a great quick weeknight dinner. The whole thing should only take about twenty minutes.

You can keep the pesto in a jar in the fridge for up to four days.

I hope you enjoy this recipe below. What’s your favorite dish with pesto?

ARUGULA PESTO RECIPE

makes 1 cup pesto

Ingredients:

5 ounces of arugula
a handful of fresh basil leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove of garlic, peeled
a pinch of kosher salt or sea salt
fresh ground pepper (about 1/2 tsp)
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

In a food processor, add the arugula, basil, walnuts, lemon juice, parmesan, garlic, salt and pepper. Pulse the ingredients in the food processor until roughly chopped. Then let the food processor run as you slowly add the olive oil through the hole in the top. If it gets stuck, stop the food processor, spoon everything off the sides and pulse until it’s all pureed nicely.

Serve with pasta or steak or on top of eggs for breakfast!

How to Make Dinner without Cooking: Heirloom Tomato Crostini

August 21, 2017 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

This is an ambitious title, I know. But it is possible to put dinner on the table in five minutes without picking up a pot or a pan. How, you ask? The answer to your question is heirloom tomatoes. Tomatoes so good, that you could simply eat them by themselves. But that wouldn’t be a recipe, would it? With a little help from a toasted baguette and some lemony goat cheese, you can make this heirloom tomato crostini in five minutes flat.

Sometimes the struggle to put dinner on the table is harder than others. My fiancé does not cook, and that’s being generous. But even he could make this recipe. I have finally created an easy recipe that tastes just as good as if you slaved over the stove for hours! Having a full time job, a blog, planning a wedding, working out every day, still finding time to spend with friends, cleaning the house–something has to give. Okay, I lied about working out every day… We can’t have it all, all the time. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day, people! But, it’s okay! Because you can spread a little goat cheese on a baguette and top it with a tomato slice, and that, too, can be dinner. I’m all for a little lazy dinner, so put down your pots and pans, and multitask while you make the easiest dinner ever.

This can also be a great appetizer to bring to a party, or a great desk lunch!

First, slice a crusty loaf of bread into 1/2 inch slices and toast.

Add some lemon zest to your goat cheese. Then add a little salt and fresh ground pepper.

Spread your goat cheese onto the toasted bread. See how delicious these tomatoes look!

Top the bread with a fresh slice of tomato. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper and a drizzle a little olive oil over it.

There isn’t an easier dinner in existence!

HEIRLOOM TOMATO CROSTINI RECIPE

Makes 4-6 crostini

Ingredients:

2 heirloom tomatoes

4 ounces of goat cheese

1 lemon

1 crusty loaf of bread

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

olive oil for drizzling

Directions:

Slice your tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. Slice your bread. Toast the bread in a toaster until browned slightly. In a small bowl, add the goat cheese. Zest the lemon over the bowl using a fine cheese grater or zester. Add a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper. Mix together slightly with a fork. Spread a thin layer of the goat cheese onto each of the toasted bread slices. Top each piece of bread with a tomato slice. Sprinkle the tomato with salt and fresh ground pepper. Drizzle olive oil over each slice. Enjoy!

Caprese Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Reduction

July 12, 2017 by Elizabeth 1 Comment

My precious neighbors gave me fresh picked tomatoes this week, so I had to put them to good use. These tomatoes put all other tomatoes to shame. They were so ripe and juicy–the perfect sandwich tomato. But I really wanted to bring this grilled cheese up a notch, so I used burrata cheese, the more spreadable and flavorful sister to mozzarella. Then I reduced some balsamic vinegar, to give it that special something.

When I was a kid, my mom used to make all our grilled cheeses by spreading soft butter on the outsides of the bread before grilling them. It makes the bread crispier and more delicious. And we’d always have them with homemade tomato soup. So this sandwich is really just a way to combine tomatoes and grilled cheese.

A balsamic reduction is very simple. You take a half cup of balsamic, add a spoonful of honey, and simmer for about 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens. You’ll want to use it while warm or it congeals and is no longer easy to drizzle. An easy fix is to warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds to loosen it up.

After you stack all the ingredients, griddle that sandwich in butter until the cheese is melted and the outsides are crispy.

Here’s the recipe. Let me know what you think!

CAPRESE GRILLED CHEESE WITH BALSAMIC REDUCTION

makes 1 sandwich. Multiply as necessary.

Ingredients:

2 slices of sourdough bread

1 tbsp butter

2 ounces of burrata cheese

1 tomato, sliced

5-6 basil leaves, torn

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tsp honey

1/4 cup parmesan grated

Directions:

In a small non-stick saucepan, add the balsamic and honey. Stir to combine. Bring to high heat and immediately turn the heat down to a low simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the balsamic coats a spoon. Set aside, making sure you use this while warm. Or reheat slightly before use.

On one slice of sourdough, spread the burrata. Then top with sliced tomatoes, then torn basil, and parmesan cheese. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the parmesan. Top with the next slice of bread. In a pan over med-high heat, add a pat of butter. Grill your sandwich for about 3 minutes on each side or until browned and cheese is melted. Enjoy!

How to make Fried Rice

March 27, 2017 by Elizabeth Leave a Comment

You know those nights when you come home from work and you’re so tired, and there’s nothing in the fridge? Me too. It can be exhausting working an 8 hour day and then coming home and having to cook. But that’s when you make fried rice! Throw whatever leftover greens you have in there. Are they wilty? Yeah, that’s okay too. I am going to make a list of things you can put in fried rice:

1. Old Kale

2. Broccoli

3. Lemons

4. Limes

5. Frozen peas

6. Frozen carrots

7. Swiss chard

8. wrinkly bell peppers

9. Green onions

10. Leftover meat of any kind

11. Bacon!

12. Eggs!

13. That weird smelling jar of something in the back of your fridge (AKA kimchi)

Fried Rice has to be one of my all time favorite foods. It makes me think of when I’d go to the hibachi grill as a kid and the guy would do all kinds of crazy fiery tricks and then heap a shovel full of fried rice on my plate. Who cares about all the other things he also heaped onto your plate? The rice was the star of the show, clearly.

This recipe is for veggie fried rice, and it’s really versatile! You can add pretty much whatever is in your fridge at the time.

There are two unchangeable things that homemade fried rice must have.

Number one: Use day old cooked rice. None of that new mushy stuff will do. You need day old rice from leftover Asian food or some that you make the night before. I usually steam some rice the night before.

Number two: SESAME OIL. Do not substitute any other kind of oil. You must use sesame oil. It gives fried rice that authentic flavor.

Everything else is up to you! I prefer using soy sauce to fish sauce. I also use ginger to give things a kick and add some hot chili paste.

VEGETABLE FRIED RICE RECIPE

Makes 2-3 entree servings

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice, day old

2 cups kale, stemmed and chopped

1 broccoli crown, trimmed and cut into florets

1 lemon

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and diced finely

1-2 tbsp soy sauce

1-2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 egg

Asian chili paste

sesame seeds

Directions:

In a large nonstick wok or high sided pan, add the vegetable oil and heat over high heat. Once hot, add the kale, stirring frequently until cooked down and edges blacken slightly. Add kale to a large bowl and set aside. In the same pan, add the broccoli. Saute for 2 minutes, then add a tbsp water. Continue to stir until broccoli is bright green with some charred edges. Add to the bowl of kale. Juice one lemon half over the broccoli and kale. Add salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Add 1 tbsp sesame oil to the pan and then add the ginger. Saute the ginger for 1 minute. Add the rice, stirring. Pat the rice down into the pan and let it brown from the bottom for a minute or so without stirring. Flip and repeat. Add a little salt to the rice. Drizzle the soy sauce over the rice. Start with 1 tbsp and add more if needed. Continue to stir the rice until rice is mostly browned. Push rice to the side of the pan and crack an egg in the empty space. Use your spatula to whisk the egg and scramble it until it’s fully cooked. Then mix into the rice. Add a spoonful of sesame seeds to the rice, stirring. Then incorporate the kale and broccoli, heating through.

Also, if you really want to do it up, add a tablespoon of butter to your rice and stir. Now we’re talkin!

Add chili paste if you like things spicy. Taste to see if it needs more salt or soy sauce. Serve hot with a fried egg on top if you like.

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lunch

Arugula Pesto

ARUGULA PESTO RECIPE

How to Make Dinner without Cooking: Heirloom Tomato Crostini

HEIRLOOM TOMATO CROSTINI RECIPE

Caprese Grilled Cheese with Balsamic Reduction

How to make Fried Rice

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