Pesto, The Right Way

Doesn't the iPhone take nice pictures?

Five ingredients shouldn't be hard to screw up, but I've done it. The first time I made pesto, I left the shells on the nuts. Yes, somewhere they sell pine nuts with the shells on, like you're gonna want to de-shell each nut by hand.

Three years later, I'm at it again. Same five ingredients, sans the shells. And while it wasn't perfect (I didn't measure the ingredients) it was pretty damn close. Here's my recipe:

- 15-20 leaves off my basil plant
- A handful of pine nuts (shell free)
- Two garlic cloves, chopped

Put in a food processor, and pulse while adding olive oil. Continue to add olive oil (about a 1/2 cup) until smooth.

When finished, mix in a handful of grated parmesan.

Toss with warm pasta, or whatever you like.

P.S. This does not count as a recipe. I still need to make something this weekend. Tomorrow, we head to the store!

Food Failure: Veggie Burger with Marinated Onion

I was feeling pretty creative this afternoon so I decide to make a high class veggie burger. I toasted an english muffin and broiled some cotija cheese over thinly sliced tomatoes. I topped it with a Boca Burger and some wonderful marinated red onions that were leftover from chicken tacos.

It looked like something out of a magazine. Too bad it was the article on recipes that needed makeovers.

This is a classic example of one of my biggest flaws - I take food that is great separately and think it will take great together. The sandwich wasn't awful, but the marinated onions gave it a weird tangy taste. Something that you probably wouldn't expect from a high class veggie burger.

Oh well, I'll keep coming up with my masterpieces and one of these days something will hit the mark.

A quick note on those marinated red onions - They're awesome and I can't stop eating them. Here's the recipe from Cooking Light.


1/3 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sugar
1 medium red onion, sliced vertically

Mix first four ingredients in medium bowl.

Place sliced onion in sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then immediately drain and place in bowl of ice water. Drain again and place onions in juice mixture. Chill.

Step Away from the Recipe - My Hummus failure

This week, I've been trying to make meals from ingredients already in my fridge or pantry. It's not easy, especially when you're a planner like me - I like my lists, my recipes, my instructions for life. 

But here I am, pretending that all the cookbooks in the world have been destroyed, and I have to make lunch. 

I decided to start with that damn can of garbanzo beans that has been sitting in my pantry. I'm sure there are fantastic restaurants in New York using garbanzo bean puree on their $50 grilled baby koala, braised leek, blah blah blah. But standing in front of my pantry, I've got nothing. Well actually I have two thoughts - Salad or hummus, salad or hummus. 

So hummus it is. This can't be hard right? I've eaten a lot of hummus. Looked at ingredients. Even made some hummus years ago. 

Break out the trusty food processor and in goes all the ingredients - Garbanzo beans...

Um.. 

Oh yeah, olive oil. Throw in some salt and pepper. And because I'm on a roll, I dig up some sun dried tomatoes out of the fridge. After a quick puree, it looks pretty good. I'm pretty proud of myself, until I give it a taste and realize that it tastes like mashed garbanzo beans with olive oil and sun dried tomatoes. It's not bad. It's just not good. 

I really wanted to rush to the computer to look up a recipe, but I told control freak Amber to calm down. I ended up making a little veggie wrap with spinach tortillas, my mashed bean mixture, red onion and cucumber. All ingredients I had on hand. It was a nice little lunch and kiddo even chowed down. 

Later I looked up the recipe and realized I was missing lemon juice, garlic and tahini. The funny thing is, most people don't even know what tahini is, and I have a jar of it in my pantry. 

So in the end, it wasn't a complete failure. I had a nice lunch and I will always remember what goes in hummus. Tomorrow maybe I'll tackle the tub of ricotta I have in my fridge. 

PS: Are you still upset about the grilled baby koala? Com'on... it was a joke. I only eat adult koala.