Pesto Orzo Salad

Pesto Orzo Salad:

(can substitute any of the following vegetables for others of your choice)

Ingredients: 

Orzo Pasta

2 Ears of Corn (Grilled)

1 cup Cherry Tomatoes sliced in half

1 head of broccoli (cut into bit sizes)

Fresh Basil (a good hand full)

Fresh Mint (a good hand full)

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

olive oil

Pesto:

In food processor pulse together the pine nuts, garlic, basil, and mint and cheese.  While pulsing, slowly add olive oil until it looks like its saucy and not a paste.

Cook Orzo pasta as indicated on box.

Mix together, veggies, orzo and pesto.

ENJOY :)

Peach Crisp

Ingredients

• 4 cups peeled, sliced peaches
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 lime
• 1 stick of butter (room temperature)
• Cinnamon 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place peaches in a baking dish.  Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the peaches.  Dust peaches with touch of cinnamon.

Mix sugar, flour and butter together,  Cover top of peaches with topping.  Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with vanilla ice cream! Enjoy :)

Buttermilk Baked Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 cup buttermilk
• Juice of 1/4 lemon
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce
• 5 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 cups panko
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fit a sheet tray with a wire rack and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix together buttermilk, lemon juice, hot sauce, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. Add chicken and coat with mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Mix panko, Parmesan cheese, and thyme together. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove chicken from the marinade, letting the excess drip off, and dredge through the corn flake-Parmesan mixture, pressing to help it adhere.

Place on the wire rack-fitted sheet tray and bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake another 10 minutes until golden and crisp.

Soaking chicken in buttermilk leaves the chicken incredibly moist with a delicious flavor.  ENJOY :)

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

3 Tomatoes

3-6 mozzarella balls (depending on size)

fresh basil leaves

roasted garlic cloves

1/2 small cooking onion, diced

olive oil

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut out the center of each tomato.  Wrap mozzarella balls with a fresh basil.  Stuff basil/mozzarella ball in tomato, stuff with roasted garlic clove.

In a skillet, saute onion and olive oil.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  Top each tomato with bread crumb mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Enjoy :)

Watermelon Gazpacho

Ingredients

• 1 large tomato, pureed
• 2 cups cubed fresh watermelon
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint, plus more for garnish
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a blender, puree the tomatoes and 1/2 of the watermelon.  Pour in the red wine vinegar and olive oil and pulse. Add the onion, cucumber, mint and season with salt and pepper. Puree until smooth. 

Pour into martini glass or bowl, add remaining watermelon and a spring of mint. Chill and Serve!  If serving immediately, chill glasses or bowls ahead of time.  

Enjoy :)

Roasted Pepper and Eggplant Marinara

Ingredients

• 2 large red or green bell peppers
• 1 large head garlic
• Sprig fresh rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
• 2 medium firm eggplant
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing eggplant
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pinch hot pepper flakes
• 4-5 fresh tomatoes diced
• 2 fresh basil leaves, torn
• 1 pound pasta
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped

Directions

Char the skins of sweet peppers to black under a broiler with oven door slightly ajar, to prevent steam build up or place directly over stovetop flame. Cover the charred peppers in a paper bag for an hour to steam and cool, peel, and seed. Reserve.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut head garlic to expose the cloves, dress in extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper and rosemary. Roast 40 to 45 minutes, until soft but still moist.

Halve the eggplant lengthwise and brush with extra-virgin olive oil. Season the eggplant with salt and pepper and place cut-side down on baking sheet and roast to very tender, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool the eggplant until easy to handle, then scoop the flesh away from skins and add to a food processor with 1/2 of the roasted garlic and roasted sweet peppers, then puree.

In saucepan, heat the tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Stir in the eggplant-pepper mixture and add basil, cubed roasted eggplant pieces, the remainder of the roasted garlic salt, and pepper, to taste.

Simmer sauce to combine flavors.

Boil long, curly pasta in salted water to al dente, toss the pasta with sauce and serve with cheese and a sprinkle fresh parsley.

Fried Zucchini Flowers

Zucchini flowers are simply delicious and if you haven't tried them yet, you're missing out!  They are some yummy, they don't even need to be stuffed with cheese, but if you see them on the menu when you're out, go for it!

At least 8 zucchini flowers because who can just eat one or two! Make sure you wash and pat dry carefully!

2/3 cup flour

3/4 cup water

1-2 tsp. sea salt

oil

Mix batter; flour, water and sea salt and let sit for at least 20 minutes.  In a cast iron skillet, heat oil until hot.  

Dip zucchini flowers into batter and fry!  

Once you take the flowers out of the cast iron, let sit on a paper towel to drain the oil and sprinkle with sea salt!

Eat immediately! YUM!

Strawberry Salad

This is one of my favorite salads!  In the winter, I substitute strawberries for red pear and is just as tasty!  The vinaigrette is the key to the salad!

1 cup strawberries; cut into bite size pieces

1/4 cup red onion, sliced thinly

1 head romaine lettuce

Vinaigrette:

1 clove garlic; minced

1 small shallot; finely chopped

1/2 tsp. sugar

salt and pepper

3 heaping TB. balsamic vinegar

6 heaping TB. E.V.O.O.

Mix ingredients and let sit for at least 1 hour to let flavors marinate.  Toss with lettuce, strawberries and onion.  

ENJOY :)

Pesto Pasta Salad

1 lb. Pasta Nuggets

1 large or 2 small jars of pesto; or homemade pesto

1 can artichokes; cut in quarters

1 head of broccoli; cut into small pieces (smaller than bite size)

Fresh Basil; tear into small pieces

Boil pasta; then add pesto, broccoli and artichokes.  Toss will fresh basil.

Easy and Delicious! Enjoy :)

Layered Taco Dip

This is always a summer favorite!

1 container of sour cream

1 stick of cream cheese

1 package of taco seasoning

1 can of re-fried beans

2 avocados

2 cloves of garlic; minced

2 limes

handful of fresh cilantro

1 1/2 cups of diced tomato

shredded lettuce; optional

olives; optional

jalapenos; optional

salsa; optional

Mix together sour cream, cream cheese and a packet of taco seasoning.

Guac:  Mix avocados, minced garlic, cilantro, the juice of 1 -2 lemons and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Layer 1:  Re-Fried Beans

Layer 2:  Sour cream/cream cheese mixture

Layer 3:  Guacamole

Layer 4:  Fresh Diced Tomatoes

Layer 5:  Sharp Cheddar cheese

Fresh Zucchini and Summer Squash Lasagna

My garden is exploding with fresh delicious vegetables and I know it's August because the rain doesn't stop, so tonight is lasagna night!

Ingredients:

1 zucchini; thinly sliced

1 summer squash ; thinly sliced

10-15 fresh leaves of basil

 2 cups Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

4 cups Tomato Sauce

1 large can of tomato sauce; I used homemade sauce I pulled out from the freezer..YUM!

Alfredo sauce

No-Boil Lasagna Noodles (I love the Wegmans brand no-boil noodles, it turns out perfect every time!)

Alfredo Sauce:

1 1/2 cups milk

2 TB butter

2 TB flour

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in pan once browned, add flour to make a rue.  Add milk, simmer, once thickened, add cheese.

Pre-Heat Oven to 350 degrees.

Assemble Lasagna:

1 or 2 ladles of sauce on bottom of pan

place lasagna noodles on top

thin layer of Alfredo sauce and mozzarella cheese

layer of summer squash

layer of lasagna noodles (lay the opposite direction as the first layer)

1 or 2 ladles of sauce

layer of zucchini

fresh basil

layer of lasagna noodles

Pour the rest of the Alfredo sauce over the noodles

top with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheeses

Bake for 1 1/2 hours with foil.  Take foil off the last 20 minutes to brown up! 

Enjoy :)

Tomato and Basil Pizza

With so many fresh tomatoes in the garden, of course a pizza is on the menu!  A few weeks ago, I was at the Rochester's farmers market I bought homemade bread dough for only 1 or 2 dollars (great deal!) and froze it.  I used it for this pizza and it was delicious!  I highly recommend not only checking out the fruits and veggies at the public market!

1 pizza dough

2 medium tomatoes; thinly sliced

1 small fresh mozzarella ball; thinly sliced

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

handful of fresh basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic minced

1/4 cup of EVOO

salt and pepper

Pre-Heat oven to 425 degrees.

In a small bowl mix olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Microwave for 30 seconds to marinate flavors!  Roll out dough.  Baste dough with olive oil/garlic mixture.  Layer pizza with tomatoes, basil then mozzarella. Remember, if you put the basil on top, it may burn.  Top with fresh Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until browned on top and bottom!

Enjoy with your favorite glass of vino :)