Pasta with Avocado and Arugula Pesto

I love avocados and it seems the easiest way to use them are in a guacamole, mostly because you can add the lime juice to keep the color green and not brown. Plus it is easier to add them to sandwiches this way. I love the way a sliced avocado looks on top of a sandwich in all it's plump, green buttery goodness, just glistening there all pretty...but come on, you must admit when you go to take a bite how long does it stay in place? It's a slippery little bugger and ends up on your plate anyway. So I usually serve them on the side, or I have made a chicken and avocado salad to go on an arepa.
When I saw Giada De Laurentiis make this on her show on the Food Network, I thought this is great, and it went to the top of my "must make" list! It has your greens and avocados and lime juice to keep the color! Eat it warm or cold, and perfect for a bento lunch! And pretty healthy too, a plus when the kids will eat it.

You can check out Giada's recipe here - Linguine with Avocado and Arugula Pesto

Pasta with Avocado Arugula Pesto - Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
Ingredients:
1 pound whole wheat ditali pasta (you can use what you like)
2 medium avocados, halved, peeled, and seeded (about 12 ounces total)
3 cups baby arugula leaves (3 ounces)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or ground black pepper)
1 cup grated Parmesan (4 ounces)
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted and chopped bit
(I also sprinkled on some Japanese seven spice, just on mine!)

Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water. Place in a serving bowl.

Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh from the avocados and place in a food processor. Add the arugula, basil, lime juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.

Pour the pesto over the pasta and toss together. Add the cheese and almonds and toss together until coated, adding the pasta water, as needed, to loosen the sauce.

The only changes I made besides the pasta, was the lemon with the lime juice (because I had lemons and only one lime) and used chopped almonds instead of sliced. I also used less basil, because I wanted to taste the arugula and avocado. This was so good, the flavors blended well and you could taste the tang of the lemon (I always think it helps cut the bitterness of the arugula) and the Parmesan was a pleasant topper. It was very filling and my family was happy eating this. My daughter wouldn't eat guacamole, but she ate this and liked it! I will definitely make it again, you could use probably any greens you like. It is such a good way to get more greens into your diet - make a pesto out of it!

One of the joys of having a night blooming cereus looks like a San Pedro cactus, or Peruvian Torch or what ever kind of cactus this is growing in our yard are seeing the flowers that come out only at night, and each bloom will open only once. If we go out early enough we can catch them while they are still open.

They are well on their way... almost closed., but this morning there were so many bees around them, it was so cool to watch them collect all that pollen. I need to get out there more often in the dark when they are full open, but then the bees won't be there, maybe just the bats!

This one took a tumble, but landed on a soft petal.

Sorry for the poor focus job, I was trying to get as close as I could without bothering the bees.

Spicy Grilled Salmon

Friends of ours (who travel a lot) have two border collies. Originally from South Africa, (our friends not the dogs), that is often one of their destinations. When they are gone we watch their dogs and they become part of the family for awhile...so much so our friends call them our "step-doggies". They fall right into the routine and it's more like they are on vacation as well as their owners.

...but it does make our house small with three herding dogs around instead of one, they always seem to be under foot, and they like a lot of attention...

... our old dog sometimes just tolerates them, but I think he really enjoys having them around (even though he'd never admit it). Jeanne has a new job that she travels to Germany (used to be Holland) often, so when she gets a chance she likes to get away with her husband. We don't mind watching their dogs because when we need it Tucker gets to stay with them (I know he gets treated like family there as well).


On their last trip to South Africa Jeanne brought back some local seasoning for me that they enjoy in So Africa. Knowing how much I like spices and local cooking....this was the perfect gift for me! She also brought me a Braai cookbook, again, perfect for me since I am the one who does the grilling at our house, I love it. Braai is South Africa's grilling on the barbecue grill.

Grilling salmon is an easy way to cook it, since it has a high fat content it holds up well on the grill. Salmon is also high in omega-3 fatty acids so it is a healthy choice. I usually have it all set to go on a platter with the skin down and pour the marinade over the top and let it marinate while the coals are getting started, don't let it marinate longer than 15 minutes. This time I just used these new spices and thought the salmon could handle these strong flavors if grilled.

Rub a little olive oil over the fish and add the spicy seasoning. You could use any spicy seasoning you like. If you have the Japanese seven spice this would be good here, or old bay seasoning, or a creole seasoning, jerk spices, Cajun, southwestern or red chilies you get the idea. I didn't salt it because the braai and Portuguese blends had salt already in there.

Since I slightly oiled the fish I didn't oil the grill. You can do what works best for you. On a nice med-hot grill put the flesh side down first, the skin will help to hold the fish together. Don't try to move it right away or it will stick, grill for 4-5 minutes on the first side then turn and grill 5-6 minutes on the other side depending on how large your fish is, but try not to overcook it. If it feels squishy it should go a little longer, if it feels slightly firm with a little give it should be done. Like everything it will continue to cook once you take it off the grill.

Oops...I seemed to flip it onto my corn, what good did that huge fish-shaped fish turner do me? !!

Mmmm...so good, nice and flaky. It didn't need any sauce, but feel free to drizzle a sauce if you like. A nice citrus creme fresh would be nice to cool the spices if you can't take the heat!

There is not much of a new recipe here, but I know most of the country likes to get their grill out in the summer months. Here in Florida we like to grill year round, so I get lots of practice. It is nice to get the heat out of the kitchen and out on the grill!


We will get our step-doggies again for two weeks in August, I wonder what they will bring us back from the keys?

Chicken Larb Lettuce Wraps

I had some ground (minced) chicken that I wanted to use up, but my husband wanted to us to meet him and his brother (who is visiting from Michigan) to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning play-off game. If we went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch it...we could also watch the Tampa Bay Rays play at the same time. Talk about stimulation overload. Anyway I thought I could quick make some chicken larb, a Thai dish that made with chicken or pork, and is often eaten cold and made into a salad, but I remember watching Giada De Laurentiis make turkey larb and made them into lettuce wraps. Perfect!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground chicken
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup broth
1 shallot chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1 tablespoon lemongrass chopped (I keep some in the freezer)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 or 2 tsp Thai, chili-garlic sauce (a sweet spicy sauce)
1 tsp coriander (optional I just thought is sounded good)
1 tablespoon toasted rice powder (I used it just because I had it)
1/3 cup fresh cilantro chopped

Method:

Place chicken in a bowl and squeeze the lime juice all over it. While it is marinading heat some oil in a skillet or wok and cook the onions until soft, about 5-7 minutes, add garlic and chicken and cook until chicken is done Add oyster sauce, chili-garlic sauce, coriander, toasted rice powder, and broth. Cook until broth is absorbed. Stir in cilantro after you turn off the heat. Serve on leaf lettuce, or whatever lettuce you like.

I liked how the chicken larb was warm, wrapped in the cold crisp lettuce. When Maranda saw it she asked...oh can I have some of the appetizers? So that's what we had before we went out to meet everyone else. Their loss! I had the leftovers for lunch with some purple sticky rice!

Hope you all have a great hump-day!

Dinner Healthy...Calabaza, Baked Salmon & Warm Goat Cheese Salad

I like going into Winn-Dixie when I can get a chance, because they sell calabaza squash that is already cut and sealed in smaller size pieces. So when I get up there (it's farther away than Publix and Sweetbay) I have to pick some up.

Calabaza is a pumpkin-like squash that can be quite large, and it can vary in size and color. It is known (I'm sure) by many different names. This squash is popular in the Caribbean as well as Central and South America. It is similar to butternut or acorn squash in flavor in my opinion and used in place of in many recipes.
I just like to oven roast the squash sprinkled with sea salt and chipotle chili powder and drizzled with some olive oil until tender. The squash works well in bento box lunch too, it adds that beautiful orange color to them.

I have always liked to cook healthy and my daughter is a good example of that. If she thinks she did not get enough veggies with her dinner...she'll go snack on some carrots later. :D She has always liked salmon so that's the easy part. She also is trying and liking other fish, not that salmon is so bad, just that my husband would like other fish besides salmon...


...salmon is always an easy dinner in my opinion. This one is the Dukkah crusted salmon of course made easy with the dukkah spice mix I have on hand in the freezer. I almost used it on the salad instead. This time I tossed in some purple cabbage around the salmon before I baked it for 20-25 minutes at 350 F...surprisingly it came out good!

For the warm goat cheese mix the softened cheese with some dried (or fresh herbs if you have any). Thyme, tarragon, chervil, parsley, chives any herb blend that you like. I rolled it in Little balls and refrigerated them. As it turned out it would be better to make them in little medallions or patties instead of the balls... or better yet just slice them from the log and season the panko.

When firm dip in a beaten egg then into panko bread crumbs seasoned with sea salt, pepper and a pinch of garlic powder. Then in a skillet with a little oil fry them until crispy and golden about 2-3 minutes per side. They can be refrigerated or placed in the freezer a bit before frying for easier handling. When done let them blot on a paper towel lined plate and you can keep the warm in a 200 degree F oven. The dukkah spice/nut mix would be good with the goat cheese too.

They are good so good as is, but I made them for the salad (and a little extra for my bento) so on the bed of mixed greens they go.

I loved the look of the purple cabbage when I sliced it...I just had to share it with you :D

For the salad dressing whisk together:

1/3 cup olive oil or Hazelnut oil

2-3 Tablespoons champagne vinegar or sherry vinegar

1 Tablespoon fig jam or orange juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Maybe I went over -kill on the healthy factor, but I did fry the goat cheese! Now where is dessert?

Whole-Wheat Penne with Sausage, Chard, & Artichoke Hearts

It was my turn to pick what we all were going to make for Martha Mondays. This is always a dilemma for me, because I want to choose something different, yet something that people will like, something with some different or new ingredients, yet in season and ingredients that everyone will be able to find, something not too expensive, yet festive....you know what I'm getting at.

So I thought I would search for Martha Stewart's healthy Spring recipes, and found quite a few that I would like to go back and try. I narrowed it down to two and Brette wouldn't let me do this again, as I was forced to choose one. So I chose this one because I had whole-wheat penne already and wanted to find something to use it in. I was a little hesitant of using the whole-wheat pasta because I've had it before and really didn't care for it. But in this dish it turned out great, very tasty. My pick: Whole-Wheat Penne with Sausage, Chard and Artichoke Hearts.

I use greens a lot and try to add them to noodles, rice, mashed potatoes...it's a great way to sneak in those veggies when you can. Swiss Chard is treated like two separate vegetables, the stem is sliced and cooked until tender first, the green leafy parts is added later and cooked less time.

I couldn't find frozen artichoke hearts so I used tinned, but not marinated so they weren't vinegary.

I also used grape tomatoes in place of sun-dried tomatoes...just because my husband doesn't care for the sun dried ones. I think the sun dried tomatoes would of worked better.

I went to my favorite meat market, Geier's Sausage Kitchen for the chicken sausage. I really didn't know where else to get fresh chicken sausage that you can take out of the casing to fry up. I'm sure you can use different sausage if you can't find chicken sausage. I cooked up the sausage first, then set it aside in the frige so we could catch the sunset....

When we got back I started the pasta and sauteed the chard stem, garlic, hearts...if using grape tomatoes toss them in near the end with the parmesan and chard leaves, I added them too soon.

oops I almost forgot the leaves,....

I didn't use red pepper flakes but a teaspoon of spicy garlic-chili sauce with the tomato paste, which gave it the same little heat now and then but it was not too hot at all. I added a splash of cream to cut the heat for Maranda. I used about a half cup pre-grated parmesan and then added some fresh grated on top!

It was good and everybody liked it. For lunch today it heated up well and tasted just as good!

The weather has been fantastic and we have to get out and enjoy it, even though it's still a little bit busy with spring break and tourists

Don't worry he's not starving! But he did have to stay home this time when we went to the beach for sunset.

Ingredients:

Coarse salt and black pepper

12 ounces whole-wheat penne

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound chicken sausage, removed from casing

1 bunch Swiss chard (about 1 pound) cleaned, stems and leaves separated and chopped

1 (9-ounce) box frozen artichoke hearts, thawed

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3/4 cup grated Parmesan (about 2 ounces), plus more for serving

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions:

1.Set a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium. Add sausage and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking sausage into pieces, until cooked through and lightly browned, 10 to 12 minutes.

2.Add remaining oil, chard stems, artichoke hearts, and garlic; season with salt and pepper. Cook until chard stems soften slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Add chard leaves and cook, stirring, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3.Add pasta to boiling water; cook until 2 minutes short of al dente. Add sun-dried tomatoes and cook 2 minutes. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta; return to pot.

4.Pour half of reserved pasta water into a small bowl. Add tomato paste and whisk to combine. Add tomato paste mixture, sausage mixture, Parmesan, basil, and red pepper flakes to pasta in pot. Toss to combine, adding reserved pasta water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper. . Read more at Wholeliving.com: Whole-Wheat Penne with Sausage, Chard, and Artichoke Hearts

Happy Monday! Please visit some other who joined us this week:

Megan at Megan's Cookin

Brette at Martha and Me

I'll add more when they post their version! Thanks for stopping by...