Search results for 'shallot'

Yummy Pasta

7 Aug

One of the best dishes my mom made growing up was discovered later (highschool time I believe) is something we affectionately called “Yummy Pasta.”  I think it’s great for summer with the fresh tomatoes, however, pine nuts have become SUPER expensive.  Therefore it is great to know someone in the nut industry.  THANKS TRAVIS!!!

It is SO easy and quick to make, and you can make a big batch and have it for multiple meals.  You can also make the pesto sauce in advance and freeze it until you’re ready.

I made the sauce as the recipe called for, but I added some of the fresh basil and pine nuts at the end and chopped it only a few seconds so it had more texture.  It came out quite yummy!

As a side, Mike decided to whip up some spinach and mushrooms with shallots and garlic.  It was absolutely scrumptious and I was very excited to see Mike cooking off the cuff.  I’m pretty sure he threw everything into the pan and just cooked it until it was all soft.

Here is the Yummy Pasta Recipe (you can adjust the amounts if you want to make more or less):

Ingredients

  • One box of mini penne pasta
  • One ball of fresh mozzarella, cut into cubes
  • One container of grape/cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 2/3 cup of pine nuts (split in half so it’s 1/3 in each part of the recipe below)
  • 3/4 cup of fresh basil (or to taste), stems removed and cut up leaves
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup of olive oil
  • Salt, Pepper, and Garlic Powder to taste

Directions

  • Cook pasta as directed
  • While pasta is cooking, cut up all ingredients
  • Put oil, basil, and 1/3 cup pine nuts into a food processor and blend to desired texture (add garlic powder at this stage if you like garlic)
  • Drain pasta
  • Toss basil mixture into pasta
  • Add additional 1/3 cup of pine nuts (I use more since I love them)
  • Carefully fold in tomatoes and mozzarella
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Happy Nomming!

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Healthy and Delicious Quick Veggies

2 Jul

I love food.  WAY too much for my waistline.  I find it hard to eat healthy since I always feel like I’m missing out on food.  I try to make good decisions (whole grains rather than white starches, portion control, avoiding fried foods and being aware of the hidden calories in things like juice and salad dressing) but usually I don’t want to have to trade my hearty, rich, favorite meals for anything else. 

When I come home from a good workout at the gym, however, it’s usually late and I don’t want to eat too heavy or totally kill my hard work on the treadmill.  Tonight I wanted something with good flavors that would leave me satisfied, though I wasn’t overly hungry.  I planned to sautee some zucchini in olive oil, garlic, and shallots (if you don’t cook with shallots, start now), however, upon entering the supermarket and seeing a lovely rack of grape tomatoes, I decided it couldn’t be that hard to make blistered tomatoes (I hoped).  Turned out there are few things easier.  It turned out absolutely delicious and my calculations tell me the recipe is only about 300 calories (and I could only eat half! That’s less than 20 minutes on the treadmill!). 

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Sauteed Zucchini and Blistered Tomatoes

  • Slice zucchini into halved 1/8 inch slices, small mince 2 shallots, wash tomatoes, and mince garlic (or substitute with garlic powder) to prep
  • Heat olive oil over medium heat in a skillet
  • Add garlic to pan and cook until tender but not brown
  • Place sliced pieces of zucchini in pan and let cook for 2-3 minutes
  • Place shallots into pan and mix with zucchini
  • Add tomatoes to pan and cook until tomatoes begin to blister, about 6 minutes
  • Salt to taste

Happy Nomming!

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Cafe Charbon

30 Jun

I’m not overly familiar with the LES. Up until a few years ago, I had hardly ventured lower than 14th Street and streets with “names” always concerned me. A voyage into the LES, however, so my sister and I could get tattoos as a memorial for my Grandfather left us with a need for dinner.

I asked one of my trusty LES coworkers and he recommended we try Cafe Charbon. He said the brunch was great, but dinner was good too and very casual. We arrived and sat outside. Our waiter was very attentive and we received our food very quickly when we told him we had a bit of a time crunch.

My friend recommended the steak tartare, but I didn’t want to risk my stomach with raw food when I was already filled with butterflies, so I opted for the steak frites. The frites were quite good… crispy yet still tasted like potato. The shallot sauce was great and the steak had great flavor, but was a bit on the tough side.

Mike decided to go with the burger (which was of no surprise… he certainly loves his burgers!) and it was very good. Nice bun with a burger that tasted like burger.

My sister, Stacey, made the winning selection, however. She went with the Poulet Fermier Bio which consisted of roasted organic chicken served with fries and salad.  She exchanged the fries for the mashed potatoes (which were delish) but the chicken may  have been one of the best roasted chickens I have ever had.  Great texture and flavor to the sauce. 

While most of the meal was average, this deserved a full extra Nom Point just for the chicken alone.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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