I love Basil. I love pesto. I like it on so many things! And lucky for me, basil grows here in the desert like crazy! It survived our crazy hot summer and is thriving with just slightly lower temps! Not only is it surviving, but I have found at least 6 volunteer plants popping up. Volunteer – meaning – I didn’t plant them there and I don’t care! 🙂 As far as I’m concerned it can grow wherever it wants.
When you have an abundance of something like basil – you can use it in caprese, any kind of pasta, dry it and keep in jars or… make pesto!
It’s so easy to make. Let me warn you though.. if you don’t have a food processor – get one! You can do this in a blender if you chose, but you might not enjoy this process as much.
First things first – gather your basil and remove the stems and any flowers. Wash it and pat dry with paper towels. Drier the better!
In the large bowl, with your basic, large blade on your food processor – add 1 cup parmesan cheese (I used already shredded), about 1.5 cups of pine nuts, 3 garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. I keep lemon juice in baggies in the freezer – we have a lemon tree so every year I juice a bunch, pour into ice cube trays and save some of the wonderful juice for later! You can just squeeze in a lemon though. 🙂 Pulse together on high until everything is mixed together well and chopped finely.
Add your basil to the top of this mixture. Place the lid back on. Turn the processor on high and drizzle olive oil through the small food chute until it reaches the desired consistency. You may have to stop and stir a couple of times. I think it used about a cup, maybe a little less of olive oil. I like mine a little creamy so sometimes at this point, I also add about 1/4 cup of plain, non-fat yogurt. You can always mix some together separately to try first. It should look something like this when finished.
Lastly, I like to throw in a few seasonings – a dash of cayenne pepper and depending on how salty your cheese was, I have some chardonnay smoked sea salt that is pretty good in this. That’s it! Enjoy on flatbread, use as a pasta sauce, bake chicken with pesto on top or.. add to your BLT! Here’s an added tip for a fantastic BLT – use thick cut bacon and cook it on the grill 😉
This is also a great gift – I’ve found so many people love pesto and it’s easy to put in mason jars and give away.
Super Simple Pesto
Ingredients
- 3-4 cups fresh basil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1.5 cups pine nuts
- 1/4-1/2 cup non-fat, plain yogurt
- 1 cup olive oil
- dash cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Collect your basil and remove from stems and remove any flowers, clean and dry thoroughly.
- In food processor (with large bowl and large blade) add your parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic and pine nuts until you have a fine consistency.
- Add Basil to mixture. With processor on high, slowly mix in olive oil until you reach desired consistency.
- If you like, add in yogurt and cayenne pepper. Enjoy!
“Game” Day Chili
I know most people have a favorite chili recipe. I have some “secret” ingredients we like to use, but honestly it never turns out exactly the same twice. This one turned out to be one of the top 3 in our long chili history so I decided I should record this recipe for future and in case you are looking for some different chili ideas.
Even though it is still rather warm here in Arizona – it is still football season! We love college football in this house – go MIZZOU! And chili just seems like a fitting meal during this season. This is something I like to make the day before or early in the morning so it can simmer for hours. Chili just gets better the longer you cook it and the more times you re-heat!
Ok – this is easier if you gather, dice, mince your ingredients beforehand, but also not necessary. First thing to do: set your oven to broil. Place a poblano (or similar variety) pepper close to the top of the oven on a pan. Keep an eye on it – when it starts to turn about 1/2 black, flip it over and char the opposite side.
Once it’s charred at least 1/2 way on both sides, remove from the oven and place in a food safe plastic container, paper bag or my preference – a sandwich or ziplock bag. Let it steam for approx 5 minutes and until it’s just cool enough to handle. The steam helps separate the skin which you are then going to peel off. You can see in the picture above, I’ve peeled almost all of the skin off – I left a tiny bit at the bottom (for the picture)so you can see what we are talking about. Once it’s peeled, dice that sucker up. No need to remove the seeds, but usually when you remove the top of a poblano pepper the seeds follow easily.
While your poblano pepper is in the oven – go ahead and heat some olive oil in your pan. This makes a huge batch so you are going to need a large pan. I prefer my large dutch oven, but anything with a lid works fine. Add about one medium onion, diced and one large jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced to your oil. Stir until the onions begin to sweat. Then, add in about 3 cloves of minced garlic. We like garlic in this house so I may have used more! Add in your poblano pepper and stir together well – keeping your pot over medium heat.
Ok – isn’t this already looking amazing? To the pot above, I added a blend of hot sauces. I like to see whatever different ones we have on hand and just mix a few in. I kept this batch pretty mild and added in a green chili and another medium sauce local to AZ – probably 2 tablespoons each.
Next, I added a small can of tomato paste. Stir the mixture until combined well and let cook for about 3-5 minutes until you have a pretty thick paste like mixture. Then, I added in my meat. In honor of game day we kept with the theme and used venison, bison and lamb – a pound of each, ground. I warned that this makes a big batch! (but soo good leftover, even frozen). Mix those together well and as they start to cook let’s add in our dried seasonings. I used 2-3 tablespoons of each: ground coriander, chipotle chile pepper, cumin and chili powder.
Next, instead of adding salsa or canned tomatoes, I had a large bunch (about 1.5 pint+) of cherry tomatoes. I sliced them in 1/2 and added to the pot. I want these to completely cook down – so if you don’t have as much time for your chili to simmer you might consider cutting them into smaller pieces. Next into the pot goes about 1/2 cup of brown sugar and then your beans. I used 1 can each of pinto, red kidney and chili beans.
And we are getting closer to putting the lid on this pot for several hours.. The remaining ingredients added in after the beans were: 1/4 cup yellow mustard, 1/4 cup dark, pure maple syrup, 1/4 cup Worcestershire, 1/4 cup of liquid aminos and 1 chocolate beer – I used Sam Adams chocolate bock. Any dark beer would do, but I liked the idea of the chocolate flavor. That might be a “secret” ingredient in my other chili recipes..?
That’s it for now – stir it together well and put the lid on that pot! Let it simmer for preferably 2-3 hours minimum 🙂
This chili is good as is, but my favorite way to serve it is “Cincinnati style” which means over pasta topped with cheese (cheddar), sour cream and diced onions – yum! I love the crunch from the diced onions. My husband loves to top with Fritos – specifically the twist ones. We like to make it almost like a taco bar with all of the topping options and let friends pick however they want to build their bowl.
“Game” Day Chili
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 jalapeno large, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 poblano pepper large
- 4 tbsp hot sauce mixed varieties or your preference
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 1 lb ground venison
- 1 lb ground bison
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 2-3 tbsp ground coriander
- 2-3 tbsp chipotle chili pepper
- 2-3 tbsp ground cumin
- 2-3 tbsp chili powder
- 1.5-2 pint cherry tomatoes sliced in 1/2
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 can pinto beans
- 1 can red kidney beans
- 1 can chili beans
- 1/4 cup yellow mustard
- 1/4 cup dark, pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire
- 1/4 cup liquid aminos
- 1 bottle beer Sam Adams chocolate bock
Instructions
- Broil Poblano pepper in oven on high until turning black – about 1/2. Flip and do same to other side. Once finished, remove and place into plastic baggie to steam. After about 5 minutes, once cool enough to handle, peel the skin off of pepper. Remove top, dice and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Add onion and thinly sliced jalapeno. Stir over medium heat until onions sweat.
- Add in minced garlic, diced poblano pepper and your hot sauce and mix together.
- Add the can of tomato paste and stir together until mixture is a thick almost paste.
- Add your ground meat and mix together well. Add your dried seasoning: coriander, chipotle chili pepper, cumin and chili powder.
- Once your meat is all cooked and there is no more pink, add in cherry tomatoes. Stir together well and add in the brown sugar.
- Now add in your beans: pinto, red kidney and chili
- Add in your remaining ingredients: yellow mustard, maple syrup, worcestershire, liquid aminos and your beer.
- Stir everything together well. Make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom of your pan. Turn heat down to low/simmer. Put the lid on and simmer for 2-3 hours (at least). Check and stire every once in a while so nothing sticks to the bottom of your pan.
Lemon Ginger Veggie Chicken Bowl
We’ve been super busy this summer.. job changes including lots of studying for David, company, travel, more company, etc. Finally we have a week at home with just us and decided we are staying in and keeping it simple for dinner all week. Time to RESET! I had some chicken already marinated and in the freezer and for whatever reason we kept skipping over the lemon ginger marinade. So I pulled it out to thaw and while at the salad bar at the grocery store over lunch grabbed a few ingredients to add!
The Lemon, Ginger chicken is a simple marinade: Olive oil, ground ginger, crushed red pepper flakes and lemon juice. Throw your chicken breasts with these ingredients into a zip lock bag and in the freezer. When you are ready to use, just pull out the morning of to thaw!
Next, I added about 1.5 tablespoons of ghee butter to my pan and heated over medium. I added in one bunch of broccolini – roughly chopped/separated into large “bite” size pieces. Stir into the melted ghee and sprinkle with a touch of salt, garlic powder, crush red pepper flakes and ground ginger.
I saw some gorgeous chanterelle mushrooms at the store earlier and grabbed them just in case.. so I threw them into the mixture as well. They were fairly small already – no need to chop. I then squeezed in the juice of one (juicy) lemon, a small bit of honey and some meyer lemon olive oil. If you don’t have meyer lemon, regular is fine as we already added fresh lemon juice. Stir over medium-high heat for about 3-5 minutes.
Then I added riced cauliflower. I used a bag of frozen from Sprouts and threw it in straight out of the freezer. Stir this together well over medium-high heat for another 4-5 minutes, then lower to a simmer and cover.
I didn’t grab any good pictures of the chicken for you, but they were just simple, organic chicken breasts with some non-colorful marinade. We grilled them over medium-high heat on the grill until they reach a temperature of 160 degrees. The optimal temperate for chicken is 165 degrees, but taking it off the grill slightly early and allowing to cool a few minutes before slicing will bring it to temperate and not lose all of the juice.
Lastly, I decided we needed just a touch of a sauce or something to drizzle on top of the bowl. So I made a creamy ginger sauce. I mixed together the following in a small bowl: approx 3 tbsp of Greek yogurt (non-fat), 2 tbsp of coconut aminos, 1.5 tbsp meyer lemon olive oil, 1 tbsp honey, 1/2 squeezed lemon, ground ginger, garlic powder and just a dash of salt. Mix together until creamy.
Slice your chicken and place over top your veggie mix in a bowl. Drizzle with your sauce. And – enjoy! 🙂 We only used maybe 1/2 of the sauce or left – so we’ll see how long it keeps in the fridge.
Lemon Ginger Veggie Chicken Bowl2
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts large, organic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lemon, juiced
- 2 tbsp red pepper flakes approx
- 4 tbsp ground ginger approx
- 1.5 tbsp ghee butter
- 1 bunch broccolini roughly chopped/separated
- dash salt
- 4 tsp garlic powder
- 1.25 cups chanterelle mushrooms approx
- 2 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp meyer lemon olive oil
- 12 oz riced cauliflower frozen (1 package)
- 3 tbsp greek yogurt non-fat
- 2 tbsp coconut aminos
Instructions
Lemon Ginger Grilled Chicken
- To make your marinade, mix together the following ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil, juice of one lemon, 1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes and 2 tbsp of ground ginger.
- Place chicken and marinade in zip lock bag and marinate over-night or place in freezer for future use.
- Thaw chicken before grilling. Grill over medium-high heat until chicken is 160 degrees. Let rest for 4 minutes before slicing. (you could also cook in oven or on stove and just look for the same temperature)
Lemon Ginger Cauliflower Veggies
- Heat about 1.5 tbsp of ghee butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add in your broccolini and stir for 3-5 minutes.
- Sprinkle with a dash of salt, 2 tsp of garlic powder, 1 tbsp of ground ginger and 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes. (go light on the pepper if you are sensitive to heat/spicy)
- Add your mushrooms, 1 tbsp of honey, juice of 1/2 lemon and 1.5 tbsp of meyer lemon olive oil. Stir together another 3-5 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Pour your bag of frozen riced cauliflower into the pan (you can also use fresh!). Stir together well and reduce to a low/simmer heat and cover. Cook until your veggies are to your liking. I was multi-tasking and left them on a little longer than normal for us, but about another 12 minutes overall.
Creamy Ginger Sauce
- Mix together the following ingredients until smooth and creamy: Greek yogurt, coconut aminos, 1.5 tbsp meyer lemon olive oil, 1 tbsp of honey, ground ginger, 1/2 squeezed lemon juice, garlic powder and just a dash of salt.
Pea, Pancetta Risotto and Scallops
Risotto is a favorite thing of mine to make. Just like pasta, there are so many ingredients you can use to change it up. If you have never made risotto before, don’t let anyone scare you out of it – it’s not that hard! You do need to commit to about 35 minutes of cooking time though. Lots of stirring. If you have a kitchen partner it’s nice to take turns sometimes. This time I decided a pea and pancetta addition sounded nice and serving with scallops helps lighten up the dish a little for the hot summer we are experiencing now.
Start this one by gathering all of your ingredients and kitchen tools together. I like to use a dutch oven for my risotto and a non-stick pan for my scallops. My current favorite non-stick pans are the zwiling – I purchased from Crate and Barrel and absolutely love them! I have a favorite wooden stirring spoon (bambu) and you will also need a spatula or tongs to flip your scallops. And you need a measuring cup or something to scoop broth into your rice.
Finely chop about 1/2 of a large yellow onion. I prefer the vidalia onions when they are in season. And in case your mother never taught you how to pick out an onion, you want to find one that is flat on the top and bottom. See picture below. The onion on the bottom is perfect!
Next, in a separate sauce pan, heat together approx 32 oz of broth (beef, vegetable or chicken all work or you can even use a chicken bone broth) and about one cup of water. I say 32oz because that is the size of the boxes I buy. Let it come to a simmer, but not boiling and keep it warm.
Next, add olive oil to your dutch oven, about 2 tablespoons and a dash of cracked black pepper and cook your onion until soft. Add in your Arborio Rice. I used about 2 cups. Scoop out about 1/2 cup of your broth mixture and add to your rice. Stir together well. Cook until the liquid is almost fully absorbed, stir constantly. Add the remaining broth mixture about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and waiting each time for the broth to absorb. This takes approx 30 minutes. Once you have used up all of your broth – your rice should be just about cooked to the perfect fluffy texture, but typically needs just a little extra moisture. I like to add about a cup of dry white wine. It adds a little acidity as well. This is also where I add my peas and pancetta. I used frozen this time as we are past their season and I just threw in the frozen peas. I used about 1.5 cups. Then I hand pulled my pancetta into pieces and added into the mixture. You can use however much you want here! Stir together until well mixed and the peas are heated (since I used frozen).
Lastly, I add about 1 tablespoon of plain old butter (non-salted) and some shredded Parmesan cheese. I just grate it right into the rice mixture and I sure love cheese so I’ve been known to use a lot. I’d say 3 ounces sounds good at this point. Once you have that all stirred together you should have a fluffy, sticky texture like this..
If you are fortunate enough to have a helper in the kitchen like I usually am, I would have them stir toward the end so you can prep your scallops. However, if not, just turn your dutch oven down to low and place the lid on while you make your scallops. You will want to serve them all right away to keep the temperature and texture perfect!
Fresh scallops are always the best, in my opinion, but if you have frozen that works too. Just make sure to thaw them in the refrigerator right before using. Pat your scallops dry and sprinkle the top with a dash of salt and pepper. Heat your non-stick pan to a medium-high heat. Add your scallops to the pan being careful not to overcrowd. You may need to cook them in batches. Leave them on the heat for 3 minutes before flipping over. They should have a beautiful golden color when you flip. Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from then pan.
This time I mixed together equal parts honey and balsamic vinegar and drizzled over the top. Nice touch of sweet and acid to balance out our creamy risotto. I hope you enjoy as much as we did!
Pea, Pancetta Risotto and Scallops
Ingredients
- 1/2 yellow onion sweet , medium size
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- cracked black pepper to taste
- 2 cups arborio rice
- 32 oz beef broth
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white wine dry
- 1.5 cups peas fresh or frozen
- pancetta however much you want!
- 1 tbsp butter unsalted
- 3 oz parmesean cheese shredded
- 2 doz scallops approx
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
Risotto
- Gather all of your ingredients and equipment together so you have less time leaving your risotto while stirring. Dice your onion.
- In a separate sauce pan, heat together your broth and water. If you don't have quite that much broth, you can add extra water. Bring to a simmer and leave over low heat.
- Add olive oil and your cracked pepper to a dutch oven and cook your onion until soft. Add in the rice and about 1/2 cup of your broth mixture. Stir together well until the liquid is almost completely absorbed.
- Add the remaining broth mixture about 1/2 cup at
a time, stirring constantly and waiting each time for the broth to absorb. This
takes approx 30 minutes. - Once you have used up all of your broth, add in your wine and stir just like before, until absorbed. Here you can also add your peas and pancetta.
- Add your butter and parmesean cheese and mix together.
Scallops
- Pat scallops dry with a paper towel. Sprinkle the tops with salt and pepper.
- Heat a non-stick pan to medium-high heat. Add the scallops, careful not to overcrowd. You can do in batches if you need to. Cook for 3 minutes and then flip over.
- Cook for another 2 minutes and remove from heat.
- Mix your honey and balsamic vinegar together and drizzle on top. Serve scallops and risotto immediately to keep the temperate and texture. ~Enjoy!
Creamy Roasted Tomato Sauce over Zucchini
Ok – I realized this is extremely similar to a recipe I have already posted. However, it turned out quite a bit different. Just a few small changes this time. I guess I will leave both recipes up so you can see the variations and pick what sounds best to you!
I know I have given several “zoodle” recipes already, but it’s summer time and there is nothing better than garden fresh veggies! I was visiting my parents last week and picked up lots of goodies at the local farmers market including these beautiful heirloom tomatoes, zucchini and yellow summer squash. This recipe is a favorite of mine and it’s so easy!
You can use any size tomato for this recipe – so if you are growing multiple varieties and want to use cherry tomatoes and large heirlooms go for it! If you have cherry tomatoes, I like to cut in half and if they are larger, just cut down accordingly – maybe into quarters. Spread them on a jelly roll pan. (that’s a baking sheet that has a lip around the sides) Drizzle on some olive oil, red wine vinegar, about a tablespoon or a little more of minced garlic, a dash of kosher salt and some red pepper flakes. The pepper adds some nice heat, if you are sensitive to spicy, then go light on the pepper flakes, but don’t worry we will balance out the heat later. Shake the pan around to make sure your tomatoes are all coated. Throw in the oven set at 375 degrees and bake until they are starting to burst. (cutting them in half saves some time here)
Next, let’s make our “zoodles.” And – oops! I forgot to take a picture so here is an old one so you can see what type of “zoodles” I used this time. My mom bought the same spiralizer I have and I thought it had the blade for the noodles that are more like spaghetti style set up, but it was the ribbon blade and I decided that was even better! I actually used about 3 small zucchini and one larger yellow summer squash combined.
Squeeze any excess water out by placing between paper towels. These really didn’t have much excess water as they were super fresh! Heat some ghee butter (or olive oil if you prefer) over medium-high heat and add your “zoodles.” Stir well to coat in your butter and then cover. I actually added a dash of water to help mine steam as I said these were super fresh and had almost zero excess water. If your zucchini is watery you won’t need to add any! These took about 10 minutes to cook through.
Once your tomatoes are starting to pop, you can pull them out of the oven and add to your cooked veggies. I use a spatula to scrape all of the bits from the pan as the juices make a nice, light sauce for summer.
Stir together your veggies and the “sauce” and then add some crumbled goat cheese. This makes for a super creamy, but still light sauce and also helps cut a little of the heat from your crushed red pepper flakes.
I like to sprinkle a little extra on top of each bowl just before serving. That’s it – I hope you enjoy! I’ve also made a similar sauce on top of regular pasta if you have been “zoodled” out like my husband would say.
Creamy Roasted Tomato Sauce over Zucchini
Ingredients
- 3 small zucchini
- 1 medium yellow, summer squash
- 1.5 pints tomatoes any size, add more if you like
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- 1.5 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1.5 tbsp minced garlic
- salt to taste
- 2 tbsp chrushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp ghee butter can substitute olive oil if you prefer
- 5 oz goat cheese approx
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut your tomatoes into pieces and spread on a jelly roll pan. Add your olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Toss together to coat the tomatoes well and put in the oven.
- Make your zoodles. We used the ribbon blade on the spiralizer and loved the texture for this recipe. Squeeze any excess water between paper towels.
- Heat the ghee butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add your zoodles and stir to coat them in the butter. Cover with a lid and let steam for approx 7-10 minutes. The cook time will depend on the water content of your veggies. (the more water the faster they will cook).
- Once your tomatoes are starting to burst, remove them from the over and add to your cooked zoodles. Use a spatula to scrape off all of the extra bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Crumble the goat cheese and add about 1/2. Stir together well. Add more of the cheese to taste and top with a few crumbles before serving if you like. ~Enjoy!
Peach Caprese Salad
I hadn’t even thought about posting/sharing this one.. I was assuming it was universal. But.. I had multiple people ask for the recipe. So – here goes nothing. This may be my shortest/easiest one yet. And not many pictures to share outside of the above.
Fresh peaches.. I mean it’s summer. We were grilling leg of lamb and I wanted a nice, refreshing, light side. I grabbed a few fresh peaches from the store. Sliced into small pieces. In Arizona, mid-summer, gardens don’t grow so amazing… I mean, I can’t complain. My tomatoes are still growing, but most of them are smaller. So.. I didn’t have the large gorgeous heirlooms to slice for caprese. Instead, I just do a bite size caprese. Slice/dice your peaches.. then same thing with your tomatoes. I bought the pre-made mozzarella in the little pearls/beads. You can also slice/dice larger mozzarella. Next, Basil. That is one thing that is growing so well for me this year. I have an abundance planted with my tomatoes under my shade cloth as well as about 10 volunteer plants that have popped up throughout the garden. Maybe I can thank the birds, maybe the wind, maybe the bunnies?? Either way, I’m happy! I just tear the basil or use some herb scissors if you have them. Mix your peaches, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella together. Drizzle with some fresh, local honey and some good quality balsamic.
That’s it – enjoy! So fresh, so yummy, so summer.. I’m not even putting a recipe card together for this one 😉
Refreshing Broccoli Slaw
This is the slaw I was telling you about – the one we topped the Turkey Burgers with! This was pretty simple and turned out really yummy! I used the bagged (or boxed) broccoli slaw to start. It holds its crunch better 🙂 Still, when making slaw I like to make ahead a few hours if possible to let the flavors really mix together.
This is the base that I started with. Mostly broccoli with a few carrots and red cabbage mixed in. Next, I very thinly sliced some fresh radish. About two small ones. Same thing with a cucumber. I had a 1/4 of one left so I used that and another.
Add those to your bowl of broccoli slaw. And lastly, before the dressing I threw in some raw, organic kraut. Basically it’s fermented red cabbage. Fermented foods are good for your gut! I found the jar at sprouts in the refrigeration section. Here is a picture and link to their website for more information on the products!
After mixing those together well, we make the “dressing.” I started with my meyer lemon olive oil. This is something I will be keeping in my pantry from now on. I only used about 1 ounce. I then added in another ounce of citrus champagne vinegar. This is another item we keep on hand. Especially because we make our own salad dressings – as we all should. So much tastier and better for you! Next, I added in some dill weed and some greek yogurt. Probably about 2 tablespoons of the dill and about a 2/3 cup of yogurt. And the final touch, pure maple syrup. I’m also guessing about 2 tablespoons. You can start with less and add more to taste. You can use an immersion blender to mix this or just a tiny whisk works great too. Just mix together really well until it looks like this…
Mix Pour this into your bowl of slaw and stir together really well. Let it sit in the fridge to incorporate. Preferably a couple of hours, but at least 30 minutes. Enjoy it alone as a side or as a topping on your burger!
Refressing Broccoli Slaw
Ingredients
- 12 oz broccoli slaw
- 2 radishes
- 1.5 cucumbers
- 1/4 cup raw, organic kraut red cabbage
- 1 oz meyer lemon olive oil
- 1 oz citrus champagne vinegar
- 2/3 cup greek yogurt plain
- 2 tbsp dill weed
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Thinly slice your radishes and cucumbers. Mix together in a bowl with your slaw and kraut.
- Mix together remaining ingredients until you have a smooth, creamy texture.
- Add your dressing to your slaw mix. Stir together thouroughly. Sit in the refrigerator to let incorporate for at least 30 minutes, but 2+ hours is best.
- Enjoy alone as a side or as a topping on a burger or anything you can imagine!
Better than beef burgers (turkey)
We really enjoy a good turkey burger. I have some old go to recipes that we like, but I decided to change it up this time. And I’m glad I did – they turned out fantastic! Luckily I was silly enough to make a dozen so we now have a few packs in the freezer to enjoy in a week or so. I think you can cook Turkey burgers just about any way: grill, stove top, oven. We usually grill, but it was close to 120 degrees yesterday!! So – I used a cast iron griddle on the stove. It may have helped me keep them together a little better as well? I have one like this ..actually I think it might be that exact one. We like to use it on the grill for breakfast too. Oh.. I should share a few of our favorite grill breakfast recipes soon! Anyway – the burgers..
I had a huge box of fresh spinach so of course spinach turkey burgers are a thing. I decided to chop it up and leave fresh (not cooked). Just a rough chop worked fine. I threw that into a large mixing bowl.
Then, I had some beautiful jalapenos from the garden. As you can see they were red/turning red. I don’t know if it’s a wives tale, but I swear it’s true.. the longer they stay on and the hotter/drier it is outside the hotter the pepper. I diced them pretty tiny and added to my bowl of spinach. I then threw in a little Himalayan salt and some fresh cracked pepper.
So then I’m shuffling around the kitchen and pantry trying to figure out what I want to do with these and see some sun-dried tomatoes. I had both jarred and dried. I decided on the dried ones. I chopped them up as much as I could – those weren’t easy to chop. I might suggest a magic bullet or something similar for next time. Of course these need some cheese. I’ve used several kinds in the past and really debated on what type would go best with this burger and I landed on the classic feta.
Throw that all in your bowl and it’s looking like a really yummy and beautiful salad! I debated eating some for lunch! Lastly, before the turkey, I added some olive oil. I chose to use my Meyer lemon infused olive oil. Just a drizzle. Mix it all together really well.
Then, I got out my 3lb package of turkey.. yes that’s right, 3lbs. I started by adding in half and mixing together. Use your hands! I realized I had used such a large bowl that I probably added too much of the above so I went ahead and used the entire package of turkey. Praying these would turn out okay enough to freeze some for future. Trust me – they turned out so good I had to get this recipe written down quickly!
After mixing in your turkey really well – make your patties. These are about 1/4 pound patties. I was making these ahead so they would be ready to go when we got home from a little after work outing together so I put them in the fridge with some saran wrap over. When ready – I heated my griddle on high over my stove (using the grated side, not flat) and cooked on each side for approx 5 minutes. Don’t press down while cooking. You will squeeze out the juice. Just get your pan super hot and flip when ready. I also made a slaw that we served on top of the burgers (my husband with a bun and mine without). I’ll share that recipe with you next! The additional side that night was grilled pineapple – yummy! We also cooked that on top of the cast iron griddle. I hope you enjoy these as much as we did. Let me know what you think!
Better than Beef Burgers (Turkey)
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh spinach give or take
- 2 jalapenos
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 oz sun-dried tomatoes not in oil
- 1 cup feta cheese
- 2 tbsp olive oil meyer lemon infused if available
- 3 lbs ground turkey
Instructions
- Wash and chop the spinach. Add to large mixing bowl.
- Seed and dice the jalapenos and add them to bowl.
- Add salt (Himalayan) and pepper to bowl.
- Chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Also add them to bowl.
- Add Feta Cheese and olive oil and mix well.
- Add ground turkey mixing well, use your hands.
- Make your patties. You should have about 10-12 total patties around 1/4 lb each. Make sure you get them formed well so they don't fall apart on the grill, but don't work with them too much either. 🙂
- When ready to cook – heat your grill or griddle to a high heat. Cook on each side for approx 5 minutes. This will depend on how large you make your patties. Enjoy!
Stuffed Garden Peppers
Peppers are easy to grow in the garden. I have had success with them both in the Midwest as well as in Arizona. Currently I am growing.. jalapenos, serranos, poblanos, bell peppers, anaheim, about 6 banana pepper plants (because they grow so well and there is soooo much you can do with them) and then what I thought was pepperoncini, but still have yet to determine what they actually are. I have stuffed all varieties, but find my favorites for this recipe are the banana, poblano , bell and anaheim peppers. I had one large poblano, a couple very large anaheim and quite a few medium size banana peppers ready to go so that is what I used this time around.
I cut the top off of each pepper, slit almost all the way down, but not cutting in half and remove as many seeds as you can. These are all pretty mild peppers so you don’t need to spend too much time worrying about removing each one. Then, I took some tomatoes, also from the garden, and squeezed them into a bowl. They need to be ripe enough for this, that you can actually squeeze them. I then threw in some of my dried oregano (also from the garden) – it has become one of my most favorite spices. I am growing extra right now so that I will have plenty to dry and store again before I use it all up! Next goes in the fresh parsley (a can is fine as well if you don’t have fresh). One thing I have learned about Italian cooking is that all of the best Italian recipes are heavy on fresh parsley. A few sprinkles of some smoked paprika and some fresh ground pepper finish of your mixture in the bowl.
I used ground pork again, you can use whatever ground meat you prefer or keep on hand. I like the mild flavor of the pork in this recipe and it also tends to be one we have on hand the most. I diced up a few of my smaller peppers and threw them into a tiny bit of oil and heated for a minute before adding my pork. Cook the pork all the way through and then add in your tomato and seasonings from earlier.
Stir together until heated through. Then, we stuff the peppers. Line the stuffed peppers in a baking dish. Top them with your favorite marinara sauce. Homemade is great, canned is just fine. If I am going to use a jar one of my favorites is the Sprouts Brand – organic, tomato basil. Come to think of it, I probably should have added basil in our spices above. I guess the sauce will help make up for that!
Try to spread your sauce out as evenly as possible, covering as much of the peppers as you can. This will help them become a little softer as they cook. Lastly, sprinkle some shredded Parmesan cheese on top. I baked these at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. We seem to think these are very filling and one large pepper is more than enough for a meal for myself! They are pretty darn good leftover as well.
Stuffed Garden Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 dozen peppers assorted sizes and kinds
- 6 fresh tomatoes medium size, approx
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/4 cup dried oregano
- 2 tbsp parsley fresh or jar
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tbsp fresh ground pepper
- 25 oz marinara sauce fresh or jarred (standard jar size)
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut the top off of your peppers and cut a slit down one side, almost all the way down. Wash out and remove seeds.
- Squeeze your fresh tomatoes into a mixing bowl. Peel and all. Add your spices including: oregano, parsley, paprika and pepper.
- Dice a small pepper or two (that you aren't stuffing) and add to the stove with just a bit of oil. Heat for a minute before adding your ground pork. Cook through.
- Add your tomatoes and seasonings from your bowl to your cooked pork and stir together until heated through.
- Stuff your peppers and place them in a baking dish. You can squeeze them up next to each other.
- Top with your marinara sauce. Spread evenly and cover as much of the peppers as you can. Sprinkle the top with fresh, shredded parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes. Enjoy!
Garden Zucchini Bowl
It is such a great feeling when are able to make entire meals (or most of the meal) from your own garden! I had some monster zucchini as my lead producers this year. We were headed out of town and I couldn’t risk them going bad so I spiralized and threw in the freezer to enjoy when we returned.
I love this spiralizer. I borrowed a similar one from a neighbor previously – Lindly. It might be the same one actually.. I ordered from Amazon. Zucchini really holds water and therefore tends to lose some density, especially when it’s been frozen. Fresh is definitely the best! I used 2 pretty large zucchini for this recipe.
Even when using fresh, start by wrapping your spiralized zucchini in between some paper towels. Try to get as much of the water out as you can.
These are the garden goodies I picked this day to use in this dish (minus the peppers – I didn’t include them). That’s fresh basil, oregano, parsley, cherry tomatoes (several varieties) and some fresh thyme.
Heat up some olive oil and add some minced garlic and a diced shallot. Cook for a few minutes and then add in a pound of ground pork. I also threw in some fennel seeds and crushed red pepper. Simmer until your pork is cooked through.
Slice your tomatoes in half or if you are using larger tomatoes you will want to quarter or smaller. Chop up your herbs (Basil, oregano, parsley, thyme) and add the tomatoes and herbs to your pork.
Next, I added approximately two cups of tomato sauce. I had some in the freezer from last years garden. I simply cook the tomatoes down on the stove, pour in a freezer bag and freeze until ready to use. You could use a canned one as well (but it won’t turn out as good – sorry!).
I let this simmer for a couple of hours. The longer the better, but if you are short on time – 20 minutes should suffice.
Lastly, I squeeze out my zoodles. Heat some olive oil and minced garlic for flavor and add the zucchini. It only takes about 7 minutes to cook through – maybe less. That’s it – place your zucchini in a bowl and top with as much sauce as you would like. Enjoy!
Garden Zucchini Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini large
- 2 dozen cherry tomatoes
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot medium
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fennel seed or more to taste
- 1 tbsp crushed red pepper
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp thyme fresh
- 3 tbsp basil chopped
- 3 tbsp parsley chopped
- 2 tbsp sage chopped
Instructions
- Spiralize your zucchini. Wrap in between paper towels to get the moisture out.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and add diced shallot and minced garlic. Cook until fragrant.
- Add ground pork to pan, fennel and crushed red pepper. Cook pork through.
- Add your sliced tomatoes and chopped herbs. Stir together well and add in tomato sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes or more.
- Heat some olive oil in another pan with some minced garlic. Add the Zucchini noodles and heat through approx 7 minutes. Use a medium-high temp to try and crisp up the zucchini a little more.
- Top the zucchini noodles with your sauce and serve hot.