Posts Tagged ‘pesto’
Creamy Pesto Shrimp and Pasta
Vegetarian • Tags: basil, Pasta, pesto, shrimp, walnuts
It was just over a year ago that we featured a walnut pesto recipe for penne pasta. It was fast, easy and satisfying. Pesto is one of the simplest things you can adapt to your tastes or to what you have on hand. If you have nuts, herbs, oil and a little citrus, you can make pesto. A bit of parmesan cheese is just the icing on the cake. Over the holidays, especially when you have guests, you have to keep in mind that they want to eat the few days before the big event as well. That means you have to make other dishes besides the turkey, ham and pies. What do you pull out when you’re not in the mood to make a huge meal for every meal? Well, pasta of course. Pasta with pesto.
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Spinach Crepes with Squash and Mushrooms
Vegetarian • Tags: creamy, crepe, pesto, savory, walnuts
Last May, we featured our first crepe recipe on this blog. Pieces of chicken, cherry tomatoes, spinach and havarti cheese were spooned between pillow-like layers of spinach crepes. This was a perfect example of the savory crepe, which is occasionally overshadowed by the Nutella or jam filled varieties. This was a perfect example of a savory crepe that needed to be repeated. When you cook often, sometimes dishes do not resurface as much as they should. Does anyone else have that problem? We should go back to old favorites more often, especially if it was worth the time and effort. Just like people, a good dish deserves a second chance.
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Walnut and Sage Pesto Brown Butter Pasta
Vegetarian • Tags: brown butter, parmesan, Pasta, pesto, walnuts
Just like homemade salad dressings, pesto has a million variations. We like to experiment with flavors based on what’s available at the time, and we always keep it fairly simple–nuts, a hard cheese, herbs, citrus and garlic. Pesto. At least, that’s how we do it. There’s no reason to stick with tradition when you can come up with fun twists on the original. There are a lot of good premade pestos on the market, and we’ve definitely made use of them. This time, it was worth the effort to make it. Actually, it’s always worth the effort if you have the ingredients on hand. Give it a go just one time, and you’ll see how easy and delicious it can be.
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Couscous and Pesto Veggies
Vegetarian • Tags: couscous, pesto, whole wheat, zucchini
We all know the benefits of healthier eating, so we won’t bore you with the blah, blah, blah. We will say that there is a completely different satisfaction that comes from eating healthier. We love our cheesey pizzas, fluffy cakes, buttery cookies, crispy calzones, and ketchup dipped French fries as much, if not more, than you, but usually those meals and snacks can leave you feeling empty. Sounds odd that heavy, high calorie foods can do that, but it’s true. A belly full of empty calories affects you immediately (hello, sugar high or deathly stomachaches!), but a belly full of the good stuff leaves you vibrant, satisfied and guiltless. It’s nice to have those types of meals to remind you that eating smart can still taste good. Might as well squeeze a few healthy meals in between those pizza slices and French fries when you can.
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Zucchini Cakes with Pesto Yogurt Dip
Starters • Tags: Greek yogurt, Maison Le Grand, panko, pesto
The convenience of finding a packaged product that you love is a beautiful food find. When we went to the Saban Free Clinic’s Extravaganza for the Senses in July, we were both gifted with a package of pesto from Maison Le Grand. That was after we’d gobbled up a few of the samples. The dairy-free, bright green pesto–named the garden pesto–was like a bite of pure herbs and lemon. So fresh. So vibrant. We really did love this pesto and knew immediately that we’d want to use it very soon. Cut to September. You’re probably thinking a month and a half is not quite ‘soon’, but we actually did make first use of it towards the end of July. We’re just slow to share. Hopefully, that’s OK. Just a couple of squeezes perked up a tangy dip for one of our most used veggies–zucchini.
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Fried Ravioli with Mint Parsley Pesto
Vegetarian • Tags: Buitoni, fried, mint, pesto, pine nuts, ravioli
We’re not ashamed to admit that it can feel good to sleep on a full stomach. Maybe some of you are prone to heart burn and indigestion. If that is the case, save this for a meal before 9:00 pm. We don’t condone this kind of eating all the time, but if the meal is worth it, it’s worth it. There was no reason for us to fry pasta on a Friday night, dollop each bite with cheesy, nutty sauce, and then proceed to eat said pasta at 1:30 am with a glass of wine. But again, it was worth it. Think of it as dinner for the night owl. A very full and satisfied night owl.
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