Fallen Souffle

*Yes, I am wearing Crocs, they are good for gardening, please don’t disown me.

Well, mine grows very well!

Here is the before, planted a mere month ago. The tomatoes are already well above the tomato cage, I may have to resort to wooden stakes to keep the branches from flopping over. There is one green roma tomato, I check it’s progress daily-I’m so impatient. I know one day it’s just going to burst and I’m going to have crap loads of tomatoes, eggplant and bell peppers. I can’t wait! I also added jalepenos and zucchini plants this weekend. The zucs should be ready in about a month while the jalapenos may take a couple months. Nonetheless I feel like I will be making lots of salsa and roasted veggies!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

The backyard garden has become the backyard jungle (pics to come!) so it was time to make some pesto from the basil that has exploded. I have been putting off this task because I absolutely hate cleaning my food processor, it takes more time to clean the thing then make the actual pesto. However, I found a handy little trick on another blog that fit the bill perfectly!

You essentially use a blender, but you unscrew the bottom blade and use a mason jar in place of the pitcher the blender comes with. Ingenious! My Mom coulda used this trick when my sister’s dog ate the blender top (yes, you read that right). So you only have to clean the blender blade as you simply screw a mason lid on the jar to store it. My life has been changed. I hate doing the dishes so anything that will cut out or delay that step is good for me!

*Pay no attention to those pizza boxes*

Ok, on to the recipe, I used a traditional pesto recipe. I used to make all of the pesto at the bakery I worked at years ago so I have it memorized, but I tend to use less olive oil to make it a bit thicker. I usually toss pesto in with pasta and use chicken broth to thin it out, makes things a little lighter. I do think this pesto is destined for a grilled pizza on Friday. My sister is coming to town and I think this would be perfect!

Perfect Pesto
2 cup basil leaves
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves
juice from half a lemon
1 cup toasted pine nuts (could also use walnuts)
1 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Throw all of the ingredients into a food processor or the blender and pulse until combined. You could do it in stages, but I have found when I throw it in all at once I get the same results.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I am in love with cold salads, especially in the dead heat of summer, even though summer doesn’t officially start until June 21st, with 100+ degree temperatures for 3 days straight, I’ll call that summer So I am beginning a Summer Salad Series to highlight some of my new and favorite salads. This encompasses green salads, pasta salads, potato and egg salads. I will try and post one weekly and feel free to include your favorites as well!

One of my co-workers made this salad and said she thought of me, aww, yes I like weird things and by looking at this recipe it certainly looks slightly weird. I would not have put these ingredients together but then again, that’s why Giada gets paid the big bucks I suppose.

This is a great alternative to a meat meal as the lentils provide a ton of protein as well as fiber. The grapes add a wonderful sweetness and are my favorite part of the salad. The dressing is quite simple but I didn’t think it needed anything extra, which surprised me. I think since I have begun eating cleaner I have refined my taste buds a bit and can appreciate simpler flavors. I specifically want my veg sister to try this as I think it would be better for her then the daily bag of popcorn she has been eating

I only made a half recipe (full recipe is posted below) to try this and it lasted about 3 days as my lunch. Quite filling but still light at the same time. I got the lentils from the bulk bin at Whole Foods, they were called French Lentils and were like $1.50 a pound, can’t beat that!

Italian Lentil Salad
Salad:
1 pound green lentils
2 scallions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 cup halved seedless green grapes (I used all green)
1 cup halved seedless red grapes
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped skinned and toasted hazelnuts
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)

Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the lentils and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 18 to 20 minutes. Drain and let cool for 5 minutes. Place lentils and remaining salad ingredients in a large salad bowl.

For the Vinaigrette:

Place the lemon juice in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil, whisking constantly, until combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss well.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I finally bit the bullet and downsized from my gas guzzling Pathfinder to a more sleek fuel efficient VW Rabbit. I have looked at these for a while, and was nervous to get something smaller but after driving this I was hooked. The smaller car zips around well, still has tons of room in the back and will get at least twice the gas mileage of the Pathfinder. Plus, its BRAND NEW. I know, you aren’t suppose to get a brand new car, however the new one was only about $1k more then the 2007 and is not in silver (which all of them seem to be) and is exactly what I wanted. I hit the 100 mile mark when I pulled into my house after leaving the dealership. While it was one of the most nerve racking 4 hours (I HATE negotiating) I was very happy when I pulled off the lot. And with the gas situation getting increasingly scarier, I am happy to be saving money in the long run.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

My sister alerted me one afternoon at 4:01 that Oprah was doing a summer “Favorite Things” show. I tell you, the funniest thing about that show is watching people’s reactions in the audience. It’s priceless and I can’t help by laugh over and over as I fast forward and rewind to see these people go nuts. Even better are the men that have no idea what is going on. The first thing Oprah talks about is this turkey burger she has at Trump’s hotel in Chicago. While I fast forwarded through Trump’s appearance (I can’t stand him) I did stop as the chef was going over the ingredients and was shocked when they put the recipe online! I thought Trump would have tried to make money off of this recipe! $5 per download! But he didn’t, or at least not yet, so I quickly got the recipe I figured i would give it a shot as I am always looking for something healthy to grill when it’s hot outside. And by the way, it is officially hot in North Carolina!

Most of these items are pretty easy to find, though I’m not sure if the chutney is in normal grocery stores, I got mine at a gourmet market only because I thought about it while I was in there. I will look for it the next time I am at the Harris Teeter but the chutney is just a mango chutney so use what you can find. I followed the recipe exactly except I did half the recipe. The original says the full recipe will feed 8 people, well, I don’t know how big these patties were but I got 8 hefty size patties out of half of the recipe. So that would be my suggestion however if there is a sale on ground turkey make a full batch and freeze some. I did 2 types of turkey, 1 lb of 99% fat free turkey and 1 lb of the 93% fat free and this worked very well and lowered some of the fat.

These grilled up beautifully and held together with no problem. The apple and chutney add a lot of moisture and they didn’t dry out at all, however I was vigilant to make sure they weren’t over cooked. I took the leftovers for lunch for 3 days and were not at all sick of them. I put them with the Merita light hamburger buns and a slice of fresh tomato and it made for a perfect summer dinner. I didn’t have time to make the additional chutney which was basically more Major Grey’s chutney with some pear, cinnamon, salt and raisins, but I may next time.

I urge you to try these when you are looking for an alternative to the traditional burger, they are now one of my favorite things!

Mar-a-Lago Turkey Burger
1/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
1/8 cup canola oil
4 pounds ground turkey breast
2 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. black pepper
2 tsp. chipotle Tabasco™
1 lemon, juice and grated zest
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup Major Grey’s Chutney, pureed

Sauté the scallions, celery and apples in the canola oil until tender. Let cool.

Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl. Add sautéed items and the remaining ingredients. Shape into eight 8-ounce burgers. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Season the turkey burgers with salt and pepper. Place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7 minutes until meat is thoroughly cooked. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Serve with a side of Mar-a-Lago Pear Chutney and your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I have never had much of a green thumb, my Mom and sister take that trait and have a bountiful herb garden and are set to have a nice veggie garden as well. I just never “got” gardening and have been too frustrated in the past to really give it a try again. I have had some luck with herbs and bought a bunch of pots to grow my own since the price of herbs in the supermarket are just nuts. Then I decided I might as well try and grow tomatoes again because those are so dang expensive and as much as I eat them in the summer it was worth the $2 to at least try again. As the pots began to fill up my little square of dirt on my back porch, the new man in my life Scottie, asked if I would like a built up garden. Um, yeah! So as my Mom and I were shopping in Raleigh this weekend he was sweating his ass off building this garden box for me. It is perfect! I planted my tomatoes, eggplants, and most of the herbs. I kept the bell pepper in a pot as well as the mint and one of the basil plants.

I can’t wait to see if I am successful and have a “crop” soon. Waiting is the worst as most of the plants will take a couple months to produce. But until then, I will just have to enjoy my herbs.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!