Eclectic Recipes » basil

Panzanella

Angie — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:58:19 +0000

Celebrate summer with this fresh Italian bread salad full of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. The other morning I woke up and came downstairs, then turned to look out my stair window that faces my front courtyard gate and noticed a little grocery bag tied to the gate. I carefully opened and peered into the bag (I’ve had negative experiences before and wanted to be oh so careful). And what did I find but a bunch of fresh bread from my sweet neighbor, Nancy. One of the loaves was a Parmesan focaccia loaf that I immediately thought to turn into this delicious salad. I found some great yellow tomatoes and ripe red tomatoes at our local grocery store for this salad. I also added some olives and balsamic vinegar for more of a bite. Keep in mind, this recipe does make the bread a little moist, so if you don’t like wet bread (like my husband) you’ll hate it. Be sure to use at least day old bread, so the bread is already dry, and will be perfect for this recipe. Most Panzanella recipes contain cucumbers, sweet onions, tomatoes and basil. Beyond those ingredients, you can just use your imagination to add whatever you like.(...)
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Vodka Cream Pasta with Italian Sausage

Angie — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:05:08 +0000

This is my version of Rachel Ray’s, “You won’t be single for long vodka cream pasta.” In my version, I added Italian sausage, because my man, or any man I would have interest in, couldn’t be won over with a solely vegetarian dish. The first dinner I made for my husband wasn’t this vodka cream pasta, but it was a similar dish, a spaghetti at my mother’s house. It obviously easily won him over. I believe in the power of a good pasta to win a man’s heart. I remember making everything that night, but I had forgot to make garlic toast. I was about to serve him when my mom came in, and was seriously concerned that I had not prepared garlic bread. She made me make the garlic bread first before serving the pasta. I’m not sure if this sealed the deal or not. I think it was just icing on the cake. Since then, I have been more conscious of details at dinner. It’s the little things that make the difference. This weekend we will be celebrating our 16th anniversary, not wedding, I’ve always said that means nothing to me, but the anniversary of the day we started “going together.” You know that time where you were too young to actually date, you just spend all your free time together on the phone and together in between class and at lunch? Over the years, I’ve done some pretty silly things in order to spend more time with him, and I don’t regret one decision. I’ve enjoyed every minute we’ve spent together. Happy anniversary Babe, and hopefully this will keep you hooked another 16 years. (...)
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Basil Pesto Pasta

Angie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 19:37:32 +0000

Here is the delicious vegetable pasta I made with my fresh basil pesto. It’s got green peas, broccoli and grape tomatoes that I quickly sauteed before adding them into the pasta. This is a great summer vegetarian dish. I made this with whole wheat pasta too, we have been using white pasta very little.

I have been having some problems with my email over the past few days, so if you’ve sent me anything I may have not gotten it. There were some problems with my server that I don’t understand, but what I was seeing were messages with no information about who they were from or any content in them, just the time they arrived. Some emails did go through, but some didn’t. So, if you sent me something, and I didn’t respond, please send it again. There were also email technicalities this week, and one of the scheduled emails did not go out for a giveaway. If you stop by the giveaway page there is a 2nd McDonald’s post and giveaway. This one centers on the Ronald McDonald House Charities. There is a widget where every second you pledge to spend time with your kids equals a penny McDonald’s will donate to the charity. So make sure to go by and pledge your time here.

Thanks again to OhNuts! for providing me with the pine nuts used in this recipe.(...)
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Fresh Basil Pesto

Angie — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:19:17 +0000

This is a quick and easy recipe for fresh basil pesto with pine nuts and lots of garlic flavor. It’s been a while since I’ve made basil pesto, so I looked up a few recipes. Most are pretty much the same. The recipe doesn’t depend on exact ingredient amounts, so much as the quality of the ingredients you use in the recipe. I followed Simply Recipe’s recipe to make this one. You can also substitute walnuts for the pine nuts. It was delicious, and made an excellent vegetable pasta perfect for summer. Thanks to OhNuts! for sending me these fabulous pine nuts. You can read my review of their site here.

Don’t forget to stop by my giveaway page for the New McDonald’s giveaway and another back to school giveaway from Yoplait Go-Gurt.(...)
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Basil Lime Beef Stir Fry

Angie — Wed, 19 May 2010 10:29:49 +0000

You are going to thank me for this recipe, trust me. It’s the easiest, tastiest, and fastest stir fry I know. The best part about this exotic stir fry is you don’t even have to make a special trip to the Asian market. You can find all the ingredients right in your neighborhood grocery store. I first had a version of this stir fry at a local Thai restaurant. At that restaurant the stir was just simply Thai basil and lime juice, that’s it. It was perfect. I have tried to add other ingredients, garlic, shallots, onion, fish sauce, and soy sauce. But all these extra ingredients take away from they perfect simplicity of this dish. The only addition that has stuck in our family is the snow peas. I have also made this dish with both Thai and regular sweet basil. Both are great, but I prefer regular sweet basil because its easy to find and has a fresher taste. Thai basil has a spicier taste and works better for me in spicier dishes. I make this dish on a regular basis. I had to fight my family off to get this photo. It was then devoured in even less time than it took to cook. I served it over jasmine rice.(...)
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Spinach Basil Pesto Pasta and Shrimp

Angie — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:15:28 +0000

This is an easy recipe for spinach basil pesto bow tie pasta. I created a spinach pesto to add some more nutrition to a classic pesto. I saw a version of this recipe on a show I discovered on PBS, ChefClass. ChefClass is a very informative cooking show that “takes viewers inside The International Culinary Schools at The Art Institutes where thousands of students learn fundamental cooking techniques and professional culinary skills.” When I first started making pesto, I would buy pre-prepared pesto and add cream before tossing with the pasta. I never realized how easy making pesto was. It is so easy to make with a food processor. Using fresh spinach sauteed in olive oil makes this dish very delicious and nutritious. I also added some green peas. The peas help to make this dish even more like springtime. My son’s new favorite food happens to be shrimp. So I have been serving shrimp a little more often than before. The shrimp cooked with garlic and pepper makes a nice contrast to the fresh pasta.

Spinach Basil Pesto Pasta with Shrimp

Ingredients

1 lb peeled and de-viened fresh or frozen and defrosted shrimp

1 package bow tie pasta

1 lb fresh spinach

a large bunch of basil

1 cup frozen and defrosted peas

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 cup cream or half and half

1 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons pine nuts

olive oil

kosher salt to taste

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Method

Prepare pasta according to package directions, making sure that you salt the water the pasta cooks in. Drain pasta.

Preheat a large skillet. Drizzle with olive oil and add fresh spinach. Saute until wilted. Add to your food processor.

Add pine nuts and basil to the spinach in the food processor. Pulse while adding olive oil, about 1/4 cup, until you have a good consistency.

Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to shrimp. Add more olive oil to the pan you sauteed the spinach in. Cook the shrimp over medium high heat to get them slightly caramelized.

After you have cooked all the shrimp, you should have lots of yummy brown bits in the bottom of the pan, de-glaze the pan by adding the white wine. Scrape up as much of the brown bits as possible. Add cream and heat through. (You may have to add more cream to get a smooth consistency.

Remove pan from heat. Add pesto to white wine cream sauce. Stir to combine. Add pasta and peas, and combine well. Serve shrimp on top of pasta.

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Basil Sweet Carrots Baby Food

Angie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:53:46 +0000

Carrots and basil make a delicious sweet puree for baby. Carrots are full of nutrition. Adding basil adds a great flavor to the baby food. Remember to try the carrots on their own first before adding the additional basil.

Ingredients

1 lb. fresh carrots

1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh basil

Method

Peel and cut carrots in small uniformly sized pieces. Place the carrots in a saucepan and fill with enough water just to cover. Add dried basil and (if using fresh basil, do not add until removing vegetables from heat) Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and continue to cook on medium until carrots are very tender.

Then remove from heat and use a submersible blender to puree. Pureeing can also be done in batches in the blender. Let mixture cool, then poor into ice cube trays, be careful not to overfill individual ice cube compartments. Freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight, then you can store each baby food cube in zippered freezer bags.

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