Penne with Herbs, Tomatoes and Peas

One of my favorite parts of Spring and Summer is the availability of fresh herbs (and vegetables) in our garden.  The vegetables won’t be ready to harvest for a while but thankfully, I was able to snip a few fresh herbs last night for a super simple, healthy and light meatless-Monday pasta dish.  To make the Penne with Herbs, Tomatoes and Peas gluten-free, I simply used corn pasta (from Trader Joes) instead of regular wheat pasta.  Of course, fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes would be amazing in this dish but unfortunately, those aren’t ready yet.

pasta night

In order to get this pasta dish on the table in around 30 minutes, get your pasta water on the stove top on high heat while you prep the rest of the ingredients.  Once it’s boiling, dump in the pasta and then begin making the “sauce.”  Honestly, waiting for the water to boil is the most challenging part of putting together this meal.  The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of olive oil and I cut that down to 2 tablespoons.  Other than that, no other major changes.

summer fresh

Feel free to play around with the vegetables that you use in this dish – I think that zucchini or squash would work wonderfully and if you don’t have basil or parsley, try using a different herb that you have on hand.  The possibilities are endless – just use the recipe as a guide for the basics.

Friday Favorites! Almost no time to pin.

The key word in the above title:  ”Almost.”  I haven’t been on Pinterest in quite a while but I managed to pull myself from working too hard and did a little pinning.  I couldn’t leave you without “Friday Favorites” for two weeks in a row.

Favorite Small Bite:  Chicken and Waffles.  Let’s just say that we had an epic breakfast last Sunday morning.  Four girls ordered the chicken and waffles.  One of my friends insisted that I recreate the dish.

these bites just need blueberry Tabasco syrup

Favorite Bucket List Item:  I’ve never been sailing.  I don’t think Big Guy is a fan but I don’t care.  It’s on my bucket list as of today.

sail away

Favorite Table:  At the same place that we devoured chicken and waffles on Sunday, I fell in love with reclaimed wood tables.  How gorgeous and rustic at the same time!

reclaimed wood table

Favorite Bauble:  In one word:  adore.

make a statement

Favorite Dips:  Dips are totally different than appetizers, right?  I’ll just keep telling myself that…

Fire-Roasted Corn Dip

Favorite Grilled Cheese:  It is National Grilled Cheese month, after all.  So I think that I’ll celebrate this weekend.  You in, Big Guy?  How about we combine two of my favorites:  grilled cheese and pizza?

grilled cheese, please.

Favorite Truth:  This past weekend was simply amazing.  A lot of people would think that putting 8 girls together might cause some cattiness.  But I can honestly say there was no tears or mean words.  And that is why I have the best friends in the whole wide world!

laugh!

Well it’s my last weekend of being a single gal…so to celebrate, I think I’ll have a glass of wine and a grilled cheese sandwich.  Totally normal.

Charred BLT Salad

I think Spring is finally here!  This weekend was unbelievably gorgeous.  Unfortunately I spent a good part of my Saturday in a mall, frantically searching for a white dress.  However, I found a dress and was able to get home in time to enjoy the 70 degree afternoon with Big Guy on the back deck with a glass of champagne.

this is the life.

Once the sun started to set, I got to work on dinner.  We kept it simple with Charred BLT Salads.  I knew we had to welcome Spring by firing up the grill but I also wanted to keep it light (19 days!  but who’s counting?).  This recipe is so simple and you can play around with the ingredients to make it work for you.

I got to work on the salad toppings while Big Guy got BQ ready to grill romaine.  I crisped some pancetta on the stove and then removed and allowed to drain on a paper towel.  I think cooked grape tomatoes (halved) in the pancetta drippings to make sure the salad was full of flavor.

To grill the romaine, simple dress with EVOO, salt and pepper and throw on the grill until it begins to wilt and earns it’s grill marks.  I would suggest cutting the romaine in half (lengthwise) before grilling – I step that I didn’t do until after cooked.

To complete the salad, top the romaine with the crisped pancetta (or bacon or prosciutto), tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles and green onions.

BLT-inspired

How did  you welcome Spring this past weekend?

Pasta with Toasted Garlic, Dried Cranberries, Kale and Feta

Al dente [brown rice] spaghetti.

Sweet and plump dried cranberries.

Vibrant green kale.

Salty, crumbly feta.

Crispy garlic chips.

One of the most amazing flavor combinations ever.

I had all the ingredients in my kitchen when I ran across this recipe (for the 38th time) and I knew I had to try “the best pasta dish. ever.” for myself.

I couldn’t get over the flavors!  Each bite was different.  But my favorites included the garlic chips.  I see garlic chips making another appearance very soon.  Very, very soon.

Please, go get the recipe from the link above and make this for dinner tonight.  It comes together in a flash and the flavors will not disappoint.

Lost in the shuffle.

The past few weeks have been a blur!  Between wedding planning (who’s getting married?) and well, life, I haven’t had a chance to share everything!  So here’s a run down of things that have gotten lost in the shuffle.

pizza and wine

Sometimes frozen pizza is necessary.  A few weeks back, one of those times happened.  This was my first time trying Trader Joe’s 3-Cheese Gluten Pizza and I must say it was awesome.  This will be purchased again.  And the wine?  It was a red wine blend that somehow appeared in our wine rack.  Though I don’t consider myself a “red wine drinker” this was actually rather tasty.

frozen dinner

With the frozen pizza, I served frozen green beans.  What can I say, it was a Betty (not Martha) kind of night.  But I did doctor up the green beans with caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar.

jam bars

I baked!  My Momma mentioned jam bars she made using a recipe from the Pioneer Woman and it made me excited to try Jenna’s Jam Crumb Bars.  I used strawberry jam and Big Guy loved ‘em.

green pizza

St. Patty’s Day seems like moons ago, but I can’t help but show you our creation.  Corned Beef and Potato Pizza.  I made a few changes to the recipe – using a gluten-free pizza dough mix, less creme fraiche and a “real” potato instead of frozen mashed potatoes.  Big Guy also cooked up some corned beef to chop up.  The pesto guoda is where it’s at, though!  It is an insanely weird color but it is insanely delicious.  But honestly, can you go wrong with pesto infused cheese?  It was available in limited amounts at Trader Joe’s.

Can you believe it’s the last week of March?

 

Small Bites

Like I mentioned Wednesday, this past weekend I had the most perfect bridal shower I could ever imagine.  But today, let’s focus on the food.  The food was incredible (and all gluten-free!).

the spread

The hostesses totally out-did themselves.  I wanted to share the small bites because most of them come together in no time at all and I think they’d be perfect for any Spring gathering (it is officially Spring now…despite this cold weather).

apricot and brie bites

Daphne was responsible for these addicting nuggets.  From what I can tell, dried apricots (TJs has some fantastic ones) were cut in half and stuffed with brie, an almond and a sprig of thyme.  Quite the perfect bite.

skewers

Maggie was in charge of these pretty skewers.  On the left, there are skewers with pepperoni, olives and mozzarella.  On the right, skewers of grape tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.  Super easy and delicious.

avocado salsa

Daphne made this dish, too.  I know for a fact that it has avocados, tomatoes, feta and cilantro.  Whatever it is, it’s divine.  Daphne – can you share a link or exact ingredients in the comment section?  I think she originally found the recipe off Pinterest and it’s amazing.

There was also a platter of fresh fruit kabobs,  a cheese plate and some gluten free spinach ball with marinara sauce (from Pinterest) that were awesome.  Like I said, all the food was delicious.

Now go enjoy appy hour!

mimosa bar

Black Bean, Hominy and Kale Stew

A hearty, vegetarian dinner that will please anyone eating dinner with you!  Don’t let the “vegetarian” part scare you away.  It’s full of flavor that is beyond whatever you’re thinking when you hear the word “vegetarian.”  I typically eat vegetarian 3 or more days a week.  Not necessarily on purpose but it just happens that way.  I will say, though, that I eat lots of beans, hummus, eggs and nut butter, all of which have protein.  Big Guy has never complained about eating a vegetarian meal.  But I make sure that it’s delicious and hearty enough to keep a grown man satisfied until breakfast.

This dinner does take a little preparation but once all the ingredients are prepped, the meal comes together in a flash.

The “meat” of this soup is the black beans, hominy and kale (hence the name, I suppose) but there’s also pureed tomatillos and roasted poblanos that add a huge depth of flavor.  Roasting poblanos is easy – simply place in the oven under broil and let them get nice and charred.  Once their charred, place in a plastic bag, seal and let them “sweat it out” for 10 or 15 minutes.  Remove the char and chop – that’s it.  There also some heat in this stew from a jalapeno (deseeded for us).

I’ve actually never cooked with tomatillos or hominy before so that was fun.  And yes, I find cooking with new ingredients to be fun.

 

I topped my comforting bowl of stew with cilantro, Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream) and white cheddar cheese.  Talk about an incredible flavor combination.  Even the texture of this stew is fantastic – lots of stuff going on in this bowl of goodness.

 

Salad Beast

On average, I eat a salad every single day.  It’s my go-to lunch to pack up to take to lunch.  People thing salads are boring and boy, do I disagree!  But then again, I’ll throw anything on top of lettuce (or even without lettuce) and call it a salad.  A typical salad for me includes beans, feta or goat cheese, avocado or nuts and a light dressing.  Sometimes I’ll add fruit, like strawberries.  And sometimes I’ll add in hummus instead of beans.  Like I said, if it’s in the fridge, it can go on a salad.

Last week I add a salad of sorts not only for lunch every day but for dinner twice.  I’m a salad beast.  The bigger the salad the better.

On Tuesday night, I made the salad beast of my dreams.  A bed of lettuce was topped with candied pecans (Trader Joe’s makes some of the best ever!), dried cranberries (or you could use raisins) and feta (goat would be awesome, too!).

I always forget how much I loved dried fruit and pecans on a salad.  A combo that needs to be on a regular rotation!

And then on Wednesday night, I made Pistachio Cinnamon Chicken Salad.  I totally didn’t mean to feed my Momma two cold dinners in February but it’s just how things work out (I promised her a hot meal tonight! – yep, she’s back!). When I first came across this recipe I just knew it would be made in my kitchen.  I love pistachios and well, cinnamon is an underused spice, in my opinion.  So many people think cinnamon is just for sweet things – but I think it can be super savory, too.  The only change I made to the recipe was omitting the basil – I just didn’t want to waste buying an entire plant for 4 leaves when I knew it didn’t fit into the meal plan the rest of the week.

I used a rotisserie chicken from Harris Teeter’s deli to make the chicken salad.  I served a small salad with the most scrumptious strawberries on the side and some Nut Thins to scoop up the chicken salad.  This plate screams warm weather.  Bring.it.on.  So light and refreshing!

I am a salad beast.  No salad is too big for me.

Fig Jam and Sweet Potato Stacks

“This is a perfect Sunday night dinner.”
- Emily

“This is a perfect Monday night, Tuesday, night, Wednesday night, even Friday night dinner.”
- Big Guy

Those words made my heart smile.  Cooking for other people is what I love to do.  It’s my hobby.  I throw together simple (and random) meals when it’s just me eating.  But when there’s someone to enjoy the meal with, I would spend 3 hours in the kitchen.

The menu:

Pork Chops with Fig Jam

Roasted Asparagus

Sweet Potato Stacks with Blue Cheese.

For the main dish, I chose to cook pork chops (bone-in) instead of the pork tenderloin since it was just the two of eating dinner.  Also, I simply love a bone-in pork chop and The Fresh Market had two gorgeous chops on Saturday that I couldn’t resist.  The chops marinated in fresh orange juice, orange zest, grated garlic, olive oil, honey, rosemary and salt for about 6 hours.  The marinade smelled so good – there’s just something about orange zest and rosemary!  Once it was time for dinner, we seared the chops in the cast iron and then placed them in the oven to continue cooking (please, please, please don’t overcook your pork!).  The chops were served on top of a dollop of fig jam (homemade – from Granny!!!!) with a seared orange slice on top.  It was super fancy looking.  (wink wink)

The asparagus were simple tossed with EVOO and a salt blend from Trader Joe’s (it included bay and thyme in the mix).

And for the sweet potato stacks, sweet potatoes were sliced with the skin on and tossed with EVOO, salt and pepper.  They were then roasted at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Once roasted, the oven gets turned to broil and you top the tator rounds with blue cheese.  Broil until it gets melty and delicious.

Ohhhh myyyy.  Sunday dinner doesn’t get better than this!  The hot pork chop literally melted the fig jam making a lovely sauce for everything on the plate.  The blue cheese actually became milder when broiled and was the perfect topping for the potato rounds.  I could have eaten the whole batch!  The combination of flavors was unreal!  Sweetness from the fig jam, tartness from the orange, herby rosemary, succulent pork that was perfectly cooked, salty asparagus and melt-in-your mouth potato rounds.  Seriously good.

Like Big Guy said, you can eat this “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.”  (Not really sure what happened to Thursday and Saturday).

Sip ‘n Dip!

I’m on a roll with football food!  If Big Guy and I happen to be around the house on a Saturday evening, there’s almost always going to be an appetizer involved.  This appetizer has less than 5 ingredients and is super simple to pull together.  I served our hot Parmesan dip with sweet potato fries (Alexia brand – found in the frozen food section) but anything would pair nicely with this super flavorful dip.  I happened to have all the ingredients on hand for the dip – you might, too!

Cream cheese (how can you go wrong?)

Greek yogurt (I used 0%)

Parmesan Cheese

That’s it.  I actually garnished the dip, after baking, with a little green onion.  And I sprinkled the sweet potato fries with cilantro for even more flavor.  Use what ever herbs you have on hand.

How gorgeous are is that football food?  Not quite as messy as yesterdays.  Instead, this is full of cheesiness!  And all Superbowl watchers need to eat something cheesy.

What’s your favorite dip?  (Or sip?)