I apologize. There will be weeks that I skimp on the blogging, but I didn't plan on slacking off so quickly. I know...I've completely neglected this blog over the past week, but it has been the week from hell. Seriously, I think that the world just threw everything at me. Hey, we all have those weeks though, right? I am just so glad it's Friday, tomorrow is the first official day of Summer and I have a ton of great World Cup matches to watch this weekend!
Yesterday, Laurie, Cameron and I picked up our second box of veggies from the CSA. Laurie was off early, so I forced her to come with me (there's a crazy person who lives across the street, so I needed to bring backup). This week, we got kale, beets, garlic scapes, zucchini and MORE LETTUCE. The fridge looks like Peter Rabbit lives there - never thought I would say that.
Over the last week, we did a pretty decent job using up the zucchini, spring onions and kale (I fixed a huge frittata with tomatoes, arugula, onions, kale and peppers on Sunday), but I swear, we have lettuce coming out of our ears. I feel like a bunny. If anyone has innovative ideas of how to use up lettuce, please let me know! I don't want the lettuce to go bad, and I'm not sure that Cameron would be too excited for me to start sneaking her lettuce.
Since we hadn't cooked with the scapes yet, Laurie and I made a garlic scape pesto for dinner last night. If you're not familiar with scapes or have never cooked with them, they are the "flower stalks" of hard neck garlic plants. They can be chopped up and used like scallions in salads and to garnish dishes, but one of the most popular way to use the scapes is in pesto. Now, scapes are very aromatic, so it's important to keep that in mind when using them in a pesto - I used a lot of arugula and basil to mellow out the flavor.
Garlic Scape Pesto
1 bunch Scapes (I had 4 stalks)
4 cups Arugula
2 cups Basil
1/4 cup Pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pinch of Red Pepper
Finely chop up your scapes, then mix all your leafy greens in a bowl with a little salt and pepper. Then, put the greens in a food processor. Add the pine nuts, parm and olive oil and process until the mixture becomes a paste. At this point, I added a pinch of red pepper and more salt and pepper. If your pesto seems too thick, add a little more olive oil and pulse again. Enjoy!
Since we had a lot of fresh pesto, Laurie and I decided to use some in a quick and easy pasta and save the rest for later. I peeled and deveined about a pound and a half of shrimp and tossed them in a pan with spices, while Laurie chopped up tomatoes and green and yellow peppers to add to bow tie pasta with the pesto.
Given a choice between cooking/eating seafood and poultry or beef, I will always choose seafood, and I absolutely love shellfish in a pasta (pretty much in anything, honestly). I cautioned you earlier that the pesto can be very strong, so adding the sweetness of the shrimp and the fresh bite of the peppers in the pasta really made a nice combination. In fact, Laurie said it's the best pesto she's ever had. :)
Now, we can really eat, but we may have overestimated our appetites last night, which is a really good thing. We had enough leftover pasta for two lunches, and I actually think the pesto is something that will be even better cold the next day. Also, I cooked way too much shrimp, so we were able to make salads with the shrimp, peppers and tomatoes with miso ginger dressing for today.
Hope everyone has a great weekend and is able to get outside and enjoy the Summer Solstice. If you get a chance, I highly recommend drinking an Anderson Valley Summer Solstice (in a can of course) on the Summer Solstice. I plan on spending as much of the weekend by the pool as possible and watching Argentina and the U.S. play in their respective World Cup matches. While I prefer American football to futbol, I can say that I have really enjoyed watching the World Cup this year, and though handsome, I can't wait to see Ronaldo (and Portugal) lose to the U.S.! I find him to be extremely obnoxious.
I'll try to be better about posting less sporadically and including more recipes in the posts. I plan on making a salad with the beets and swiss chard tomorrow night, so I'll be sure to share that with you guys!
Lauren
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| Cameron was not pumped for the CSA pick-up selfie. Nope. |
Over the last week, we did a pretty decent job using up the zucchini, spring onions and kale (I fixed a huge frittata with tomatoes, arugula, onions, kale and peppers on Sunday), but I swear, we have lettuce coming out of our ears. I feel like a bunny. If anyone has innovative ideas of how to use up lettuce, please let me know! I don't want the lettuce to go bad, and I'm not sure that Cameron would be too excited for me to start sneaking her lettuce.
Since we hadn't cooked with the scapes yet, Laurie and I made a garlic scape pesto for dinner last night. If you're not familiar with scapes or have never cooked with them, they are the "flower stalks" of hard neck garlic plants. They can be chopped up and used like scallions in salads and to garnish dishes, but one of the most popular way to use the scapes is in pesto. Now, scapes are very aromatic, so it's important to keep that in mind when using them in a pesto - I used a lot of arugula and basil to mellow out the flavor.
Garlic Scape Pesto
1 bunch Scapes (I had 4 stalks)
4 cups Arugula
2 cups Basil
1/4 cup Pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup Olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pinch of Red Pepper
Finely chop up your scapes, then mix all your leafy greens in a bowl with a little salt and pepper. Then, put the greens in a food processor. Add the pine nuts, parm and olive oil and process until the mixture becomes a paste. At this point, I added a pinch of red pepper and more salt and pepper. If your pesto seems too thick, add a little more olive oil and pulse again. Enjoy!
Since we had a lot of fresh pesto, Laurie and I decided to use some in a quick and easy pasta and save the rest for later. I peeled and deveined about a pound and a half of shrimp and tossed them in a pan with spices, while Laurie chopped up tomatoes and green and yellow peppers to add to bow tie pasta with the pesto.
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| The finished product (with a little shaved Parm). :) |
Now, we can really eat, but we may have overestimated our appetites last night, which is a really good thing. We had enough leftover pasta for two lunches, and I actually think the pesto is something that will be even better cold the next day. Also, I cooked way too much shrimp, so we were able to make salads with the shrimp, peppers and tomatoes with miso ginger dressing for today.
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| Yum! Salads and kale for kale chips! |
I'll try to be better about posting less sporadically and including more recipes in the posts. I plan on making a salad with the beets and swiss chard tomorrow night, so I'll be sure to share that with you guys!
Lauren
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