Arugula Pesto Pasta with Sauteed Vegetables

I almost always serve arugula in it's natural, whole form, but that started to get boring after several salads or using it as a burger topping. Pesto has historically always been a basil-only zone for me, but lately, I've been mixing it up with different greens. Arugula pesto is a bit spicy and adds the perfect kick to pasta. Here's another recipe (modified slightly) from my favorite blog, TheKitchn.
Arugula Pesto with Veggies
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups arugula
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup toasted walnuts
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon, zested and juiced (about 2 tbsp juice)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb pasta
Sauteed veggies (mushrooms, tomatoes and broccoli work nicely)

1. Put a pot of salted water on to boil.
2. In a food processor, blend the arugula, basil, walnuts, garlic, lemon zest and juice and salt with a bit of freshly ground pepper until smooth.
3. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil and pulse to combine.
4. Add the cheese and pulse a few more times.
5. While the pasta cooks, saute your veggies. Toss with pasta and pesto and serve!

Turnip Soup with Chickpea Croutons

I don't care what anyone says - turnips kind of suck. In years past, I'd pretend that I was going to eat undesirable produce like kale and turnips only to throw them away after I'd lost the battle in my fridge. Turnip soup to the rescue! I modified the recipe from TheKitchn a little bit based on what I had around the house. I did not regret substituting mushroom broth for veggie broth. This soup was earthy and smooth, and did a great job covering up the usual funkiness of turnips.

Turnip Soup with Chickpea Croutons

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Croutons

1 can cooked chickpeas, rinsed, peeled and patted dry

2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Pinch of sea salt

1 tsp z'atar seasoning (optional)

Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small bunch Egyptian walking onions, sliced thin, white and light parts only

4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 medium turnips, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 large russet potato, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1/2 tsp paprika

4 cups mushroom broth

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In a large bowl, toss the peeled chickpeas with oil and seasoning. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer and bake until golden and crisp, about 25 minutes, tossing halfway through. I added a little extra time at the end to make sure they were crispy. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

2. Heat olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for one more minute. Add remaining ingredients (except broth and salt/pepper) and stir to combine. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until veggies are tender, about 25 minutes. *I actually used my pressure cooker for this step, sauteeing the veggies in the pot, adding the rest of the ingredients, and setting to "Soup" to cook for 15 minutes.*

3. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or transfer to a blender and puree, adding more broth if the soup is too thick. Season with salt and pepper and top with chickpea croutons. 

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie Two Ways

Sauteeing the kale and onions

Kale and I have an interesting relationship. No matter how many ways I try to cook it, it still tastes like...kale. Hiding it in a pot pie is a brilliant solution. On Wednesday, I made this recipe, following it exactly. It was delicious! Only problem was I didn't thaw the puff pastry correctly, so the looked a bit funky and bumpy instead of smooth. Definitely not worthy of the front cover of Bon Appetit, but yummy nonetheless.

The broth comes very close the edge, of the pan so be careful!

Finished product with an "artsy" crust

Since the recipe only calls for half a rotisserie chicken and one puff pastry crust, I decided to make a second pot pie on Thursday, using slightly different ingredients. Following the same recipe as before, I used spinach instead of Kale, a smaller amount of pearl onions, and an entire bag of mixed frozen vegetables. I can't decide which one was better - the first one or the second variation.

Lime Cilantro Scallops with Orzo

I've been avoiding cooking scallops for way too long. I order them whenever I see them on a menu, but have always had this fear that if I cook them myself, I'll mess them up, waste a ton of money, and be sad sad sad. Man, was I wrong! Scallops are easy peasy to make, and you can buy them relatively inexpensively in the frozen seafood section. I used orzo, since we didn't have any fettuccine lying around the house like the original recipe called for, and decided to serve the broth on the side. While we ate dinner, my husband asked, "Do we have about 14 more pounds of these in the kitchen? Because that's how many I could eat right now". I'd call that a win.

Slow Cooker Asian Pork Shoulder with Snow Peas, Green Beans and Red Peppers

Whenever pork shoulder goes on sale, I scoop it up. Normally, it gets turned into some sort of BBQ sandwich, but I wanted to try something different this time. If I could bathe in this sauce, I probably would. Yum yum yum yum yum is all I have to say about it. Once again, I modified the original recipe for my pressure cooker (1 hour 45 minutes on the stew setting), but I'm sure it would be just as delicious, if not more, in a slow cooker. I added some frozen green beans, too. 

Two Meals in One - Barbacoa Beef Tacos and Shredded Beef Shepherd's Pie

Over the past year, I've gotten better and better at manipulating slow cooker recipes to work with my pressure cooker. This one's a keeper. If you don't have a pressure cooker, follow the recipe as directed, and use a slow cooker instead. I used a 4 lb brisket, and cooked the meat in the pressure cooker on the "stew" setting for about an hour and 45 minutes. After shredding the meat, serve in corn tortillas with sour cream, salsa, and diced avocado. There were plenty of leftovers after the three of us had about 2 tacos each, which was good, since I needed the leftovers for the second recipe the next day.

Blending Up the Ingredients for the Sauce

One of my favorite blogs, The Food in My Beard, posted a recipe awhile back that I've been dying to try, but alas, have been too lazy, because it requires slowly cooking short ribs in the oven. I decided to use the leftovers from the tacos in his version of Shepherd's Pie.

 Ingredients
Leftover shredded beef
A bag of frozen corn
1/3 of a red cabbage, chopped
3 tomatoes, diced
3 fresno peppers, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
A drizzle of olive oil
5 cups mashed potatoes (see this post for recipe)
Shredded cheddar cheese



Preheat the oven to 400F. In baking pan, layer the leftover beef on the bottom, being sure to add some of the cooking juices. In a mixing bowl, blend together the corn, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add on top of the shredded beef layer.  Top with a layer of mashed potatoes and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the top is slightly crispy and the juices are bubbling. Get ready for your mind to be blown...

Green Tea Salmon with Sriracha Quinoa and Veggies

This is one of those recipes that makes you feel good, and I mean really good, when you're eating it. It's extremely filling, and also extremely healthy. Adding a tea bag to a simmering pan of fish was a bit strange to me at first, but it adds subtle flavor to the fish. I added twice as much Sriracha to the quinoa, and wasn't disappointed.

Green Tea Salmon