Summer Pasta

Did anyone else catch Rachel Ray today? I happened to catch the first 10 minutes and it is so great that I did! This morning I was thinking I need to use up some summer squash and some corn on the cob so this recipe played right into my plan. I did roast the squash instead of grilling because it was more convenient for me to be all in the kitchen and not having to run out to grill every few minutes. I also boiled my corn before cutting it off the ears.

Rachel Ray's Penne with Grilled Summer Squash and Sweet Corn

Zucchini "Spaghetti"

With the arrival of my new mandolin today, I am super excited to more efficiently chop, julienne, and deal with the overwhelming amount of produce in my house. First stop, Zucchini "noodles". I've been wanting to try this for a long time but considered it a huge time-suck. Truth be told, it would be without the mandolin! (Seriously, how many times do I have to mention it before you buy one, too?! :) And might I add, this is a GREAT spaghetti option for my g-free friends out there.


Zucchini "Spaghetti"

Ingredients:
-2 large zucchinis, peeled
-marinara sauce
-parmesan cheese
-fresh chopped basil
-toasted sunflower seeds

1. Use the "thin julienne" setting on the mandolin to cut both zucchinis into a colander.

2. Sprinkle the "noodles" with a bit of salt and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour. A lot of liquid will drain from the zucchini during this time.

3. Toss "noodles" in a pan over low to medium heat to warm the up; drain excess liquid.

4. Toss "noodles" with marinara sauce, top with cheese, fresh basil, and sunflower seeds.

Enjoy this absolutely GUILT-FREE, CARB-FREE pasta dinner!!

Grilled Watermelon Salad

Have an oversized watermelon in your house and tired of eating it raw? I NEVER would have thought cooked watermelon would be a good idea, but this turned out great! Even my soon-to-be kindergartener (who initially took one look at it and said, "Momma, I am NOT eating warm watermelon!") gobbled it up and asked for more after we coaxed her into taking just one bite. Who knew it was possible to make watermelon juicier and sweeter than it is raw!!

Grilled Watermelon Salad

Ingredients:
-Fresh cut wedges of watermelon
-Spring greens
-Feta cheese
-Balsamic vinegar
-Olives (optional)

1. Sear the watermelon on both sides on the grill (about 2 minutes on each side).

2. Serve topped with spring greens, feta cheese, and sprinkled with balsamic vinegar. (Can add olives if you so desire - my family does not!).

Squashamole

Hold on to your hats, friends. This. Is. A. Good. One. Seriously, this is something I will be begging for come oh say, February! SO MUCH summer squash and zucchini coming in these days, this is a great, delicious, and no-guilt healthy way to gobble it up!! Thanks for the inspiration, RR!!

Squashamole

Ingredients:
-Several small summer squash or zucchini
-2 small onions
-head of garlic, separated but not peeled
-olive oil
-toasted walnuts
-shredded parmesan cheese

1. Slice squash/zucchini and onions lengthwise, toss to coat in olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

2. Wrap garlic cloves (unpeeled) in foil.

3. Grill items from #1 and #2 on low to medium heat for 10-15 minutes, turning halfway through.

4. Combine in food processor: squash/zucchini from the grill, garlic squeezed from skins, toasted walnuts, and parmesan cheese.

5. Blend until smooth. Chill. Serve with tortilla chips.

Delish!

Preserving Fresh Garden Herbs

If you're finding your garden overflowing with more fresh herbs than you can use or give away, try this handy preservation technique.

Step 1: Pick your herbs.


Step 2: Chop herbs and pack them into ice cube trays.


Step 3: Fill trays with water and put in freezer.


Step 4: Pop out your herb cubes and store in a freezer bag. Be sure to label your bags if you're preserving multiple herbs! When you're ready to use, just thaw on the counter or in the microwave on defrost.

All Things Pesto

'Tis the season for fresh herbs, especially basil at our house! You can Google pesto and come up with all kids of recipes and the basic variation is quite tasty. However, I usually take a few liberties in making pesto around here for a variety of reasons...

1. After being introduced to the concept of Spinach & Arugula Pesto, I began to broaden my horizons about what exactly can/should be included in pesto. Now, I tend to use all my "must go" greens when prepping a batch of pesto. I do try to have sweet basil make up at least 50% of the greens included, but I've been known to include carrot tops, spinach, spring greens, and arugula in any combination.

2. Pine nuts are expensive. I rarely use them and instead opt to include toasted walnuts or sunflower seeds. Both of these give an equally "nutty" flavoring and for what it's worth, I can't tell the difference (and neither can my pesto-devouring family).

3. Storage: Pesto freezes very well. Some would recommend omitting any cheese if you're going to freeze it (adding it once thawed) but honestly, I can't be bothered and include it in my frozen batches without complaint. I prefer to freeze pesto in ice cube trays; you can pop them out of the trays and into ziploc bags once frozen and each cube is a handy 1-serving portion.

Marinara

My notes for marinara are more of a process than a recipe, so I'm formatting this entry a bit differently. Marinara flavoring can really vary depending on personal taste, so feel free to add, delete, modify to your own preferences!



When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you tomatoes . . . make marinara? Works for me. This is only a small harvesting from what's available in my garden and CSA at the moment so I've got a lot of cooking to do! (p.s. On another note, I have a bag full of lemons from the CSA in my fridge as well, maybe I should explore that homemade lemonade idea???)

1. Because I also had garden-fresh celery, carrots, and onions available, I started my marinara with a traditional mirepoix. I chopped the celery, carrots, and onion into very small pieces, added a head's worth of minced garlic and some olive oil. Put them over heat for 10ish minutes to let them soften and get the juices flowing.

2. I roughly chopped my tomatoes (for this batch, I used about 1 container pictured above). I like my marinara with bigger chunks of tomato, so that's how I cut 'em. You can dice yours finer if you prefer. Once chopped, add tomatoes to the mirepoix.

3. Add canned tomato sauce to achieve your desired thickness/thinness. I added 1 1/2 cans.



4. Add a generous amount of chopped fresh basil and oregano, brown sugar (I used 1Tbs for the whole pot), and salt/pepper. Let the pot simmer for 45-60 minutes. (Careful it is not boiling, just simmering.) As it simmers, taste and adjust herbs/seasonings until it tastes good to you.

5. When done, you can serve or freeze. See directions below for easy freezing.




Have you ever tried getting sauce from a pot into a ziploc? Not pretty. A good friend tipped me off to this easy and CLEAN method for freezing liquid goods. Shechele, if you're out there, thank you. My kitchen is cleaner because of you.

1. Take a ziploc bag and put it inside of a large measuring cup, folding the zipper over the edge. Use a mug to scoop sauce out of pot and into the bag.

2. Once full, zip most of the way closed, squeeze out excess air and lay flat on a cookie sheet. Put in freezer until solid. This makes the sauce super thin and stackable, great for long-term storage in an overcrowded freezer!