Radishes are so pretty and very easy to grow! These beauties all came from our little backyard garden. I planted the Easter variety – which is just a multi pack. My favorite is when you are surprised with the watermelon radishes. I just think they are so beautiful! There are a lot of things you can do with radishes and typically that involves simply slicing them thin or eating whole. I wanted to share something a little different with you this time.
This is super simple. Quarter your radishes or halve if smaller. Place in an oven safe dish and sprinkle with some salt and pepper.
Melt a stick of butter in a pan. Add sage leaves and simmer until the butter starts to froth and turn a little brown.
Remove the sage leaves and place on a paper towel to absorb extra liquid.
Pour the melted butter on top of the radishes and stir to coat well.
Place your sage leaves on top of the radishes. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then, uncover and bake for another 30 minutes or until the radishes are fork tender. The last minute, turn your oven to broil to crisp up the sage leaves. Enjoy!
Brown Butter Sage Roasted Radishes
Ingredients
- 1 dozen radishes approx
- 1 stick butter
- 1 bunch sage leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Quarter or halve your radishes. Place in an oven safe dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Melt butter in a pan on stove. Add sage leaves and simmer until butter starts to froth and turn brown. Remove sage leaves and place on paper towel to absorb extra liquid.
- Pour butter over radishes and stir together to evenly coat.
- Place sage leaves on top of radishes and cover pan with foil.
- Bake in over at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 30 minutes or until radishes are fork tender (check in 15 minutes).
- For the last minute, turn over to broil to crisp up the sage leaves. Enjoy!
“George’s” Chicken Soup
We are having just a couple of cooler days in the desert before we shoot up toward the 90s next week. The cooler days combined with being stuck in the house made soup sound like just the thing for dinner. One of our favorite soups both David and I enjoy is from George’s at the Cove in La Jolla, CA. If you have never been – it’s worth it! The views are incredible and if the seals and sea lions are plentiful, they are just high and far enough away that the smell won’t ruin your appetite!
This recipe is a pretty close play on their soup, which you can find their recipe online as well! We just made a few small changes. To start, we are using leftover pulled chicken. I am loving having all of the smoked meat leftover as there are so many different meals you can create! You can find my beer can chicken recipe on this site as well – make 2 or 3 at a time, pull the meat apart and freeze what you don’t eat for later!
Next, heat some oil in a pan and add your diced veggies, carrots, celery, onion and broccoli (stems and florets). I used approx 2 cups of each. I made a big batch as we like this leftover too! Cook for about 5 minutes until veggies are starting to soften. Add about 2 tablespoons each of basil, thyme and oregano (Mediterranean or Greek/not Mexican). Stir and cook together for a few more minutes. Heat your pan up slightly and add some white wine to de-glaze the pan, about 1 cup or a little more.
Next, add in chicken broth or stock – I used about 6 cups in this batch. Stir together well and simmer reducing the liquid by about 1/3. Add in your chicken. Cook for another 5 minutes and then add in 2 cans of black beans, drained, 3 tablespoons of worcestershire and hot sauce (your favorite brand). Simmer until you are ready to eat.
Before you serve, add in about 2 cups of coconut cream and mix together well. That is just about it! I like to add a dollop or two of Greek yogurt on top to add a little extra creaminess and cool the temperature down slightly. Enjoy!
“George’s” Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 2 cups diced onion
- 2 cups diced broccoli stems included
- 2 cups diced celery
- 2 tbsp basil
- 2 tbsp thyme
- 2 tbsp oregano Greek or Mediterranean
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 6 cups chicken broth or stock
- 3-4 cups shredded chicken, or cubed preferrably smoked
- 2 cans black beans drained
- 3 tbsp worcestershire
- 3 tbsp hot sauce
- 2 cups coconut cream
- greek yogurt, non-fat/plain optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in pan and add diced veggies. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add about 2 tablespoons each of basil, thyme and oregano. Stir and cook together a few more minutes. Turn heat up slightly and add white wine to de-glaze the pan.
- Add in chicken broth, stir together well and simmer until liquid has reduced by about 1/3.
- Add in chicken. Cook for another 5 minutes and then add in beans, worcestershire and hot sauce.
- Simmer on low until ready to serve.
- Add in coconut cream and stir together, cooking for a minute or so.
- Enjoy! Add a dollop or two of yogurt on top if you like!
Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta
I always love pasta. I love that you can do so many different things with it. I love that dried pasta keeps in the pantry for a LONG time so you can have it for all of those last minute throw together meals. I love that we typically have it as a one dish meal. And apparently most of the rest of the world must agree with me right now as our shelves are currently pretty bare when it comes to pasta! That’s all I am going to say about the crazy pandemic going on right now as I am sure most of us are sick of hearing about it.
We have our favorites, but you can use any kind and shape of pasta you have on hand for this. Go ahead and bring a pot of water to boil, well salted and cook your pasta per the directions.
While your pasta is cooking, heat some ghee butter in a pan and add a couple tablespoons of minced garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the garlic is fragrant and add in your mushrooms. My favorite to use are cremini, but we had baby bella on hand so that is what went in. For this dish I used 2 pint containers. Add in some salt and pepper to taste and cook down for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Turn your heat up a little and add about 1-2 cups of dry white wine. I added about 2 as I’m making a large batch. Let this cook down until the liquid is 1/2 or less.
Next, I added in some fresh kale from the garden. Any green would work. I just ripped it into approx bite size pieces and stirred into the rest of the mixture. Your pasta should be about done now. Go ahead and drain and set aside, but add about 1/2-1 cup of the pasta water to your pan.
Next you add in your chicken. We like to make several smoked chickens, pull the meat and freeze leftovers for dishes like this and that is just what we did. However, you can use chicken breast, thighs, rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or whatever you have on hand. Cubed, diced or pulled is fine too! Stir that in until it is heated up well (note you do need to pre-cook the chicken.)
I added in about 2-3 tablespoons of parsley and about 1 cup of shredded cheese. Any hard cheese works, parmesan, romano, asiago or a combination of any.
Lastly, I stirred in about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream. If you wanted a healthier option you could use coconut cream or even milk. That’s it – super simple. Add your pasta to the pan, mix together well and serve! I like to add a dash of freshly grated cheese on top and a sprig of parsley for plating if you want to get fancy! 😉
Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp ghee butter
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 pints mushrooms baby bella, cremini or whatever you prefer
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups dry white wine
- 2-3 tsp parsley dried or fresh
- 2 cups kale or fresh greens approx
- 2.5 cups shredded chicken pre-cooked
- 1 cup shredded cheese, parmesan
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Cook your pasta per the directions. Make sure to salt the water.
- While pasta is cooking, heat ghee butter in pan and add garlic. Cook until fragrant and then add in mushrooms.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, cook for about 3 minutes, turn your heat up and add white wine. Cook until liquid is reduced by at least half, stirring occasionally.
- Add in shredded kale and about 1.5 cups of pasta water.
- Add your chicken and cook about 4-5 minutes until meat is heated through.
- Add in your parmesan cheese, stir. Add the heavy whipping cream and stir thouroughly.
- Add your pasta to the mixture, stir together well and you are ready to serve!
Meyer Lemon, Lavender “Quarantini”
Ok – I know.. I guess I’ve been slacking on recipes. I’m coming back with this simple “Quarantini.” Our Meyer lemon tree, as per usual, produced hundreds and hundreds of lemons and we were a little late to getting them all picked this year! But luckily – only sacrificed a few to our lateness.
So.. I’m pulling weeds in the backyard for what feels like the 100th time this month or week at that. And the lovely honey bees are swarming all around the lemon and lime trees as the blooms smell like what I imagine heaven must smell like and they are going back and forth between the trees and the garden where the herbs and the beautiful lavender are growing!
This is just one of the several lavender plants growing in our garden currently! Isn’t it beautiful?
So – I had already picked all of our lemons and peeled and juiced ALMOST all of them. I had a giant pitcher of juice in the fridge waiting to be frozen (like the last 2 gallons) or trying to figure out what else to make!
Save the peels – I will share my “secret” BBQ rub (or all purpose) soon!
So for this Quarantini you will need approx 6-8 stems of lavender and about 2 cups of squeezed lemon juice, preferably Meyer lemon (it’s milder/sweeter). This recipe will make approx 4-5 martinis. You can cut in 1/2 if you don’t want that many!
Begin by making your simple syrup. Equal parts sugar to water. I used one cup of sugar and one cup of water. Bring it to a boil and stir until dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in your lavender stems. Let cool.
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice (it is best super cold), strain your simple syrup into the shaker. Add a cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice and shake well. Dip martini glasses in lemon juice (or use a quarter lemon to coat the rim) and then coat in sugar. Pour in 2 oz of chilled vodka and then fill to the top with your lemonade mixture – stir gently. Top with a lavender stem and/or a thin slice of lemon for garnish. Enjoy!
Note: If you are like me and like them a little more tart – feel free to top with some extra lemon juice. And don’t worry – the meyer lemon isn’t too tart! 😉
Lavender Lemon Quarantini
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 6-8 stems lavender
- 1 cup meyer lemon juice (or more) fresh squeezed is best
- 1/8 cup sugar for garnish
- 4 oz chilled vodka
Instructions
- Make your simple syrup. Add one cup of sugar and one cup of water to a pot and bring to a boil. Stir until dissolved. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and add lavender stems. Let cool.
- Add ice to shaker. Pour in one cup of meyer lemon juice and strain the symple syrup into the shaker. Shake until super cold.
- Rim martini glasses with sugar – use lemon juice and then dip in sugar around rim. Fill glasses with 2oz of chilled vodka. Pour lemonade mixture on top until glass is full. Stir gently.
- Add a lavender stem and/or thin lemon slice for garnish. If it too sweet for you – top with a little extra lemon juice. Enjoy!
Lamb Ragu
My husband and I both love lamb and we love ragu. We had roasted a fantastic lamb shoulder from our favorite local meat market and of course, I froze the leftovers. I personally think the lamb really makes this recipe, but if you aren’t a fan you could easily substitute about any of your favorite meats. We also made homemade pasta for the first time to go with this ragu that made it even that much better, but I made several completely different meals with this ragu that all turned out fantastic!
I think you are all going to be completely shocked when you hear how this recipe starts…. olive oil, diced onion and minced garlic – surprise! 🙂 About 2 tbsp oil, 1 onion and 1/4 cup minced garlic. Then, I add in about 1.5 cups of diced carrots. I prefer the organic, colored carrots – I swear they taste better, have a better consistency and of course, I’m growing them in my garden right now! You can use whatever carrots you prefer.
Next, add in about 1 pint of sliced baby bella mushrooms. Then comes the fun part.. add in your heirloom tomatoes, about 8 medium to large. You crush them by hand over your pot. Be careful – sometimes they like to squirt across the room or into an eye!
Add in a whole bunch of fresh parsley – just remove from the stems and throw it in. Then add your meat. We had pre-cooked lamb that I diced into large bite size pieces. You could add beef or chicken or really anything you like, but the lamb is the best. 🙂 Add about 2 tablespoons of dried oregano (I save mine from the garden and I also swear it’s way different than what you buy at the store), 3/4 can of tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of smoked paprika, ground peppercorn to taste and crushed red pepper flakes. (again depend on your spice tolerance)
Simmer this down for about 15 minutes and add about 1.5-2 cups of a dry red wine. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes or longer. I always say the longer sauces simmer the better!
Serve over pasta or like we did the following weekend – over potatoes topped with an egg for a breakfast hash. Both were delish! And several friends enjoyed some of the leftovers as well – including ones that had never had lamb before.
Lamb Ragu
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/4 cup minced garlic
- 1.5 cups diced carrots
- 1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 8 heirloom tomatoes medium-large
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley
- 2 cups pre-cooked lamb or other meat approx
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 3/4 can tomato paste small can
- 2 tbsp smoke paprika
- ground peppercorn to taste
- crushed red pepper flakes to taste
- 1.5-2 cups dry red wine
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in pan and add onion and garlic. Dice carrots and add to the mixture. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Add mushrooms. Crush the tomatoes by hand into the pot. Have a towel handy as this can get messy!
- Add in parsley and your cooked meat (lamb). Stir together well.
- Add in dried oregano, tomato paste, smoked paprika, ground peppercorn and crushed red pepper flakes. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
- Add in about 1.5-2 cups of wine and simmer for another 20-30 minutes.
- Serve over pasta, potatoes, rice or share what other ideas you might have. ~Enjoy!
Super Simple Pesto
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!