Mardi Gras Salad

Apologies for the bad photo, but I had a share an image of my "Mardi Gras" salad. Why you say? Why, look at the vibrant colors - the green from the basil dressing and salad and the vibrant purple of the beets are perfect to celebrate Mardi Gras! This was quite filling and surprisingly sweet, a delicious salad.

Mardi Gras Salad

1-2 beets
1 cup fresh basil

1 tablespoon roasted garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

5 ounces salad greens
1/2 cup prepared couscous
1 small carrot, shaved or grated

Coat the beets in olive oil and roast whole in a 375 degree oven for about an hour and 15 minutes. Let cool, then peel the skin and dice.

Meanwhile, to make the dressing, add basil, garlic and pine nuts into a food processor and pulse to combine. Stream in olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To combine the salad, place salad greens, couscous, shaved carrot and diced beets. Top with desired about of basil dressing, toss and enjoy!

Italian Grapefruit Cocktail (or mocktail)

Following up on my Grapefruit, Beet and Salad recipe, with the additional Rio Star grapefruit we had on hand, I decided to make this Italian Lemonade recipe from Giada de Laurentiis, but with a twist. We enjoyed the first half of the batch with Italian sparkling water at our picnic, and the second batch we enjoyed with Champagne the next day at brunch!

Italian Grapefruit Cocktail

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 bunch basil
3 Rio Star grapefruit
1 bottle Italian sparkling water OR 1 bottle Chamapgne


First, make your basil simple syrup. Combine the water and sugar in a medium sauce pan and simmer until sugar evaporates. Stir in basil and simmer 5 minutes. Strain out the basil leaves and place in refrigerator to chill.

Next, juice the grapefruit so you have about 2 cups. If you're smart, you'll juice a few extra for more tomorrow (I did!)

To assemble the drinks, pour 1 part basil simple syrup, 2 parts grapefruit juice and 2 parts Italian sparkling water or champagne in a fun glass and stir to combine. Taste and add additional simple syrup to match your preference, but this ratio was perfect for me. enjoy!

*I wrote this post on my own free time and not for work. Full disclosure, TexaSweet Citrus is a client of mine, but I love Rio Star Grapefruit and wanted to post this anyway. Enjoy!

Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto

So I realize I just did an extensive post on corn, but maybe you didn't know just how much I love corn. When I opened the August issue of Bon Appetit to find that they had a whole section devoted to corn, I turned into a giddy little girl. You will too (I don't care who you are) after you make this recipe.

I took a few small liberties, but the credit all goes to Bon Appetit. I can already tell this will be a favorite in my house for many summers to come!

Tagliatelle with Fresh Corn Pesto
*includes a few tiny tweaks from yours truly :)

4 bacon slices, chopped
5 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from about 6 large ears)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted and divided
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces tagliatelle
3/4 cup coarsely torn fresh basil leaves, divided

Cook bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp and brown, stirring often. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet. Add corn, garlic, 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to drippings in skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat until corn is just tender but not brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer 2 cups corn kernels to small bowl and reserve. Scrape remaining corn mixture into processor. Add 3/4 cup Parmesan, 1/3 cup pine nuts and 1/4 cup basil leaves. With machine running, add olive oil through feed tube and blend until pesto is almost smooth. Set pesto aside.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Add corn pesto, reserved corn kernels, and 1/2 cup basil leaves. Toss pasta mixture over medium heat until warmed through, adding reserved pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to thin to desired consistency, 2 to 3 minutes. Season pasta to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer pasta to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil leaves, 3 tablespoons pine nuts and reserved bacon. Serve pasta, passing additional grated Parmesan alongside.

Move In Day

Move in day has come and gone without anything (or anyone!) getting broken. I was excited/anxious to use my new kitchen. The appliances are all new and nice, but the space is much smaller than my last, which made me pretty nervous. The test run tonight went well though, so I think it will work out!

I had 6 hungry people to feed tonight (my self and my two roommates, the boys in the other half of the duplex, and Christine's friend Mark whose staying with use for a few weeks), so I wanted to make something special, yet substantial. Central Market had a great coupon for salmon, so I decided to make an Herb Crusted Salmon from Cooking Light April 2008 that I had tried once before with great success. I replaced the parsley with fresh basil, but other than that actually followed the recipe.

Fresh basil, oregano and rosemary- mmmmm
Ingredients
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick), skinned
Cooking spray
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation
1. To prepare salmon, combine the first 7 ingredients in a shallow dish or pie plate. Lightly coat both sides of fillets with cooking spray, and sprinkle evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Dredge both sides of fillets in breadcrumb mixture.










2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add fillets to pan; cook 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; carefully turn fillets over. Cook 4 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

The salmon was very lightly coated giving it the perfect crisp. The fresh herbs filled the house with delicious scents (it was smelling pretty funky in here from the previous tenant...) as well as tons of bright flavor.

Since it was move in day, I made my roommate Rachel's favorite side dish, Herbed Basmati Rice. I realize I posted this recipe last week, but I can't help it if it's her favorite! I served this with a side of steamed broccoli to even out the meal. For dessert there was mango sorbet and/or vanilla ice cream, and some fresh watermelon. It was the perfect meal after a weekend of moving during the heat of August. Be on the lookout for my other culinary adventure this weekend with lamb, coming soon!