Parsley Pesto in a Presto!

My fabulous hubster has been wanting to mimic his mama's awesome veggie garden for a long, long time now, and if you've ever been over to our home, you know we have an excess of space in the back yard for one. Well, this was the year, and though it's the very beginning, things are progressing quite nicely! We have lettuce, zucchini, peppers & broccoli growing (although there are some weird bugs on the broccoli leaves that Mike is trying to safely kill), and then there is a cute little area for my herb garden, which is my forte'. Last year I went crazy stuffing herb seeds and herb-starters into pots, only so that they could overgrow each other and become entangled and messy- not ideal for a 'type A' home cook! So, my 3 X 4 rows and columns of herbs that the hubster organized and planted for me (I am not a green-thumb person, my place is IN the kitchen, NOT in the garden), are perfection!!

Last year I got a little of every herb out there- well, not EVERY herb in the world, but the most common. And though that was fun, I really didn't end up using the lemon verbana too much or the marjoram- just not enough varieties of recipes to use them up. This year, I figured I would replace the the ones I didn't use much with a few extras of the herbs I wished I had had more of, so I ended up with; 2 big flat leaf parsley, 1 curly parsley, 1 dill, 2 gigantic rosemary (I seriously have rosemary for days so if you need some, let me know!), 1 oregano, 1 chive, 1 mint, 1 sage, and 1 thyme. I normally get a lot of basil as well to make basil pesto, but I haven't been able to find any good looking basil plants around town (do you know where I can find some?).
Well, pretty much everything is growing out of control in my cute little 3 X 4 garden except for my dill (which is disappointing because usually dill doesn't need much love or attention), so I have a ton of flat leaf parsley- perfect for a fresh pesto to; toss with a whole-wheat pasta, spread on top of a crusty bread, stuff inside a deli sammy, drizzle on some fresh veggies, stir into a vegetable soup for added flavor, or mix with some olive oil to create a sparkling salad dressing.
Here are the basics...

Ingredients & Recipe:
Printable Recipe

• 1 large bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, enough to creative about 1 cup (packed) when it is all chopped up (p.s. It is okay to use some of the stems of the parsley!)
• 1 large garlic clove
• 2 tsp. lime juice, or to taste
• 2 Tbls. olive oil
• kosher salt, pepper- to taste

There are 2 ways to go about this;

A) Coarsely chop all the parsley and combine all the ingredients in a bowl- simply mash everything together with a fork.

B) Kind of rip apart the parsley a little as you throw it in your mini-chopper. Chop the garlic in 3 pieces and toss it in the chopper, followed by the other ingredients. Pulse until you get to a desired consistency/texture-kind of chunky yet smooth.

You Could Also Try...

• Set aside a specific ice cube tray JUST for pesto- fill the little compartments with your homemade heaven and then cover with plastic wrap, followed by a freezer bag. Freeze your ice cube tray full of fresh pesto and save it away for for your next special use! When you're ready to cook with it, just pull the tray out and thaw in the fridge for a few hours, or defrost for 30 seconds-1 minute in the microwave, and use however much pesto you need. Again, freeze the leftovers for another day!
• Ideas for ways to use pesto; toss with a whole-wheat pasta, spread on top of a crusty bread, stuff inside a deli sammy, drizzle on some fresh veggies, stir into a vegetable soup for added flavor, or mix with some olive oil to create a sparkling salad dressing.

Make Your Own Piccata (With Scallops)

Piccata, piccata, piccata...what the heck is piccata? It's always an option at your local steak house, and is served at weddings and banquet parties all the time- usually in the form of "Chicken-Piccata"or "Veal-Piccata". It appears to be some fancy-schmancy recipe that you need a culinary degree to appropriately create, but rest assured- NICHe in the KITCHe is here to set the record straight and give you the authority to PICCATA, PICCATA, PICCATA all the way home!

As Wikipedia explains, "Piccata" is an Italian word and really just means, "Sliced, sautéed and served with lemon, parsley and butter sauce". Not so intimidating after all-it's really just a method! You & I can do this, and I'll show you how!

Ingredients & Recipe:
Printable Recipe

• 2 lbs. sea scallops (about 16)
• S & P
• Canola oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3/4 cup of vermouth (from your bar)
• 4 Tbls. flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 3 Tbls. lemon juice
• 2 Tbls. butter
• 5 tsp. capers (from a jar)

Start by heating a large skillet over medium-high heat. Be sure to dry off each scallop with a paper towel (they will brown better if they are bone-dry), sprinkle with S & P. Drizzle in about 1 Tbls. of oil into the pan, add the scallops, cook about 4-5 minutes, turning once (when they are "opaque", not translucent anymore, they are done). Remove them from the pan onto a side-dish, place a piece of foil over them to keep warm.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the garlic to the pan, followed by the vermouth. Use a rubber spatula mix it up and incorporate all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan (those bits are very flavorful!!). Cook about 2 minutes until it has reduced by half. Take the pan off the heat, then add in the parsley, lemon juice, butter & capers, stirring constantly. (This is your "Piccata")

Place your cooked scallops over a bed of prepared brown rice, spinach or pasta. Drizzle the sauce over the scallops, serve with a nice glass of wine & enjoy!

You Could Also Try...

• Not sure what kind of wine to serve? Check this out!
• Turn this recipe into CHICKEN, VEAL OR PORK PICCATA! Prepare your meat (grill it, saute it, bake it) then top it with the sauce!

Spread Your Nickel with Homemade Marinara!

There's nothing better than fresh, homemade and HEALTHY marinara sauce to warm up a variety of meals! Throw it in with your favorite whole wheat pasta, veggie or chicken parmesan, pizza or lasagna recipes- OR- freeze it away in portioned size zip top bags for easy access! There are some good bottled sauces on the shelves these days, but you don't really know what is IN them. I've made my own sauce before, but not as frequently as I'd like because the cans of sauce and fresh tomatoes get to be a little pricey.
I've been prepping some easy "freezer to oven" meals for my expecting Sister-in-law and her hubby, and figured marinara would be a perfect option. But how to make A LOT of it and keep it inexpensive???

I hit up my local Costco warehouse and found some large & in-charge cans of Crushed Tomatoes, perfect for a marinara base. 105 ounces (over 13 cups) for around $2.50!! The brand had some recipe suggestions on the can, but to keep costs down I decided to just use what I had already at home.

Ingredients & Recipe:
Printable Recipe

• 1 onion (finely chopped)(preferably white or Spanish, but whatever you have at home will work)
• 2-3 shredded carrots
• 3 garlic cloves (minced)
• olive oil
• 1 (105 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
• dried herbs, such as basil and/or oregano

Heat 2-3 Tbls. olive oil in a large pot or pan over medium heat. Toss in chopped onion, carrots, garlic, season with some S&P and cook for 7-9 minutes or until tender. Now be creative by adding in whatever herbs you like. I added in 1 tsp dried oregano and 1-2 tsp dried basil. Next, pour in crushed tomatoes to your veggie/herb mix, stir around, and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes (stirring once in a while) so that all the flavors marry together!
Give it a taste and use your own judgement. I added a few tablespoons of sugar to taste. Use right away or cool & freeze away in individual zip top bags for a rainy day!

You could also try:

• Tossing in whatever extra veggies you have in the fridge, like adding a few ribs of chopped celery or chopped fresh tomatoes while the veggies are cooking.
• 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes for a kick
• Make it a meat sauce by adding in a pound of browned ground turkey or beef (say that 3 times fast!)
• Make the sauce a bit creamier by mixing in 1/2 cup of milk or heavy cream at the end before you serve!