I will never stop singing the praises of the farmers market. While the produce selection is limited in the beginning of the growing season, somewhere in the middle of July the farms are churning out a large selection of produce. One of my personal favorite items to purchase are the massive bunches of bright green basil for $3 (quite a deal figuring they sell two to three sprigs of the "live herb" stuff for $2.99 at the grocery store). Frankly, its more basil than I can use most of the time, but I stick the remnants in a glass on my kitchen counter and it contributes a nice aroma to my apartment.
This week I was also hunting for the perfect bouquet of flowers to put in the ceramic pitcher my mother brought me from Italy. She returned from her two week hiatus in Italy with magnificent stories of hillsides covered in sunflowers so I thought it would be fitting to pick up a bunch at the market. I purchased as many as were left at the one stand selling flowers, 6 in total, and wandered back home to place them in my new vase.Once trimmed and placed in the pitcher they looked a little sparse and needed some additional greenery added to the mix. My bunch of basil came to the rescue! The full stalks of basil leaves livened up the lonely stems and made for a stunning arrangement.
I also happened to use the basil in a chicken salad. I started with poaching the chicken in water, vegetable broth, and white wine along with half an onion and several cloves of smashed garlic. Once the mixture had begun to boil I added two chicken breasts and reduced the heat to a slow simmer. I let that simmer for 10 minutes at which point I topped the pot with a lid and turned off the heat. Once the pot was cool I put the entire thing in the fridge to meld overnight. The next morning I chopped the chicken into cubes, added chopped basil, shallots, celery, carrots, lite mayo, cream cheese, dijon, and salt and pepper. While I am always looking for ways to incorporate more veggies into my diet, I really dont like carrots and dont know why I insist on adding them to my meals. After all, I am only cooking for myself! Anyways, the salad is a great summer meal that I like to eat with a piece of fresh summer fruit and butter crackers. Feel free to leave the carrots out if you make this dish.
Chicken Salad with Basil
2 chicken breasts
1/2 onion3 garlic cloves2 c. water2 c. veggie broth2 c. white wine3 small carrots2 stalks celery1 shallot1/4 c. basil1/4 c. mayo1/8 c. cream cheese3 T. dijon mustardsalt & pepper
As is frequently the case when posting to this blog, I am eating leftovers of the dish I am going to be writing about. In my book, a recipe is *really* good when it makes it as leftovers. Also, a recipe ranks very high with me when it takes well to adaptation. This entry is about just such a recipe.I often forget about certain ingredients, like roast bell peppers in this case. I seem to eliminate roasted peppers of any kind from my ingredient list because I have an electric stove and an apartment that lacks good ventilation, making it risky to roast my own. Out of desperation I have rediscovered the jarred roasted pepper, and, I have to say, they do the job quite well!
I was pushed towards experimenting with jarred peppers when I stumbled upon a roasted red pepper pesto on Sherry's blog. (She will be missed! For posts about Sherry visit this link) The photos of her pasta dish made my tastebuds tingle and I knew I had to try it. I didnt have all the ingredients the original recipe called for so I changed it up to suit what was on hand. The result was surprisingly refreshing and took no more than three minutes to assemble. Plus, since this pesto is simply blended, it only requires the cooking of pasta which cuts down on kitchen heat. The meal was a special treat since my mom had brought back beautiful pasta from her recent trip to Italy. The end result was aromatic and gorgeous.
Roasted Red Pepper and Lemon Basil Pesto1 garlic clove3 roasted red bell peppers4 large walnuts1/3 c. lemon basil1/4 c. parmesansalt and pepper*1/4 c. olive oil1 lb. pasta cookedIn a blender or food processor combine the first seven ingredients. Top hot pasta with the pesto mixture and add parm to your liking.
*Because the pasta sauce is not cooked and doesnt have time to meld, I tend to add more salt than I normally would.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Given the fact that the first pesto recipe was to die for, I tried another variation of it for dinner two nights ago. The basil at the grocery store was kinda sad but the cilantro looked wonderful, so I opted to season the pesto with cilantro and took a non-traditional route. I also didnt have any parm on hand since I had yet to go to Trader Joe's (and there is no way I am buying parm from Target) but I had about 2 oz. of goat cheese in the fridge and figured that would work well. In the end the pasta dish had a rich mediterranean flavor that I will crave again and again!
Cilantro Pesto with Roasted Red Peppers1 clove garlic3 roasted red peppers1/3 c. cilantro leaves2 oz. goat cheese4 large walnutssalt and pepper*1/4 c. olive oil1 lb. cooked pasta
Combine the first 7 ingredients in a blender or food processor and pour atop hot pasta.I added 16 oz. of artichoke hearts and several chopped green onions to get more veggies in the dish.If you experiment with variations on this dish please forward it on since I love to hear how people have amended recipes to suit their tastes.
This week I was also hunting for the perfect bouquet of flowers to put in the ceramic pitcher my mother brought me from Italy. She returned from her two week hiatus in Italy with magnificent stories of hillsides covered in sunflowers so I thought it would be fitting to pick up a bunch at the market. I purchased as many as were left at the one stand selling flowers, 6 in total, and wandered back home to place them in my new vase.
I also happened to use the basil in a chicken salad. I started with poaching the chicken in water, vegetable broth, and white wine along with half an onion and several cloves of smashed garlic. Once the mixture had begun to boil I added two chicken breasts and reduced the heat to a slow simmer. I let that simmer for 10 minutes at which point I topped the pot with a lid and turned off the heat. Once the pot was cool I put the entire thing in the fridge to meld overnight. The next morning I chopped the chicken into cubes, added chopped basil, shallots, celery, carrots, lite mayo, cream cheese, dijon, and salt and pepper. While I am always looking for ways to incorporate more veggies into my diet, I really dont like carrots and dont know why I insist on adding them to my meals. After all, I am only cooking for myself! Anyways, the salad is a great summer meal that I like to eat with a piece of fresh summer fruit and butter crackers. Feel free to leave the carrots out if you make this dish.
