Easy 30 MInute Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto

Gluten Free Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto

Spring has definitely arrived in my kitchen. While the weather in my area is stuck in winter I have been making an effort to start using spring vegetables in my recipes. There is something about making spring foods that always puts me in a better mood and makes me think ahead to the warmer months. My mother-in-law brought me down 2 pounds of ramps which I will be cleaning and posting about in the next couple of days. Spring onions are always a sure sign that the weather will be turning warmer soon. Pesto is a food that I make a lot of in the spring. There are so many flavor combinations that can be created and it is great on pasta, chicken or beef. Since my two boys are both in stages where they love pasta (and little else some days) I have been making most of my pesto to serve with pasta. Last week I tried  new recipe for Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto from Food and Wine magazine.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. Since I eat gluten free I used gluten free orecchiette for this recipe. The recipe was very straight forward and I didn't make many changes. I did find that I had to add a significant amount of salt to the pesto in order for the flavors to come through. This was in addition to adding salted pistachios. Pesto can seem bland when not salted properly. I am a bit salt phobic, except when it comes to pesto. It really does need the taste of the salt in order for the other flavors to shine.

I had never tried gluten free orecchiette before. I sort of wish that I hadn't. There are a number of great gluten free pastas. I love brown rice ziti and spaghetti, however the orecchiette pretty much fell apart. With regular pasta this recipe would be delicious though and a great way to add a vegetarian menu option to your weekly meal plan. The pesto part of the recipe would also be delicious with chicken or fish if you are looking for a meat option.

For the recipe go to Orecchiette with Scallions and Pistachio Pesto.

Pistachio, Dried Cranberry, Coconut and Agave Syrup Homemade Granola

Mornings in my house are always crazy. With two boys, one of which is in school it is always a rush to get out the door to the bus. I have become great at putting on make-up in three minutes (and having it still look great) and I am the queen of 5 minute showers. My two boys on the other hand move like molasses. It doesn't help that many mornings my oldest is finishing his homework from the night before or my youngest is unhappy and massively grumpy from having to wake-up in the first place. Normally breakfast for myself takes a backseat and I am often left with only coffee until lunch. I try to keep at least a few things on hand that are quick to grab on the run. This week I tried a new recipe for Captain Crunch - A Better Granola from Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. For the nuts I used pistachios since they are a family favorite. I have never seen coconut shaving at my local store so I substitute unsweetened coconut. Finally I used olive oil instead of coconut oil since coconut oil is much higher in saturated fat. So every once in a while a recipe doesn't turn out at all. This recipe was one of those cases. I had to completely redo the recipe after it came out of the oven. First the granola as written came out dry and with no crunch or clump at all. Therefore I added additional olive oil and a 1/2 cup of honey. Then I placed it back in the oven for 20 minutes. When it came out I let it cool and then broke it into chunks. After my modifications it was perfect. I would suggest adding honey instead of the agave and adding additional olive oil. The texture was definitely better with the modifications.

With my changes this recipe was very popular with my family. Before the changes the granola was too salty and did not hold together at all. It would be better as a yogurt topping, but if you are looking for a granola recipe you need to make changes such as I did by adding additional honey and oil. My two boys really loved the granola after the changes and ate over half of the batch.

For the recipe go to A Better Granola.

Roasted Red Pepper and Pistachio Pesto for Cheese Ravioli

Ninety degree days in May are just not right. Don't get me wrong I love a little bit of warm weather, but when it is too hot to want to cook in my kitchen at the beginning of May I know that it is going to be a very long summer. Since the weather has been so warm I have been trying to keep a batch of easy to prepare stove-top recipes. One of my family's favorite type of recipes is pasta. My two boys absolutely adore pasta and could eat it pretty much every day. While my husband and I are pasta fans, we get tired of eating the same dishes over and over again. Therefore I was pleased when the January/February issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine had a recipe for Roasted Red Pepper and Pistachio Pesto for Cheese Ravioli , which looked different than my family's normal pasta routine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes approximately twenty minutes of prep and cooking time and makes 5 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. Instead of raw shelled pistachios I used roasted-salted pistachios. Since my pistachios were already salted I didn't have to add as much salt to my finished pesto. For the ravioli I used fresh four cheese ravioli, which worked perfectly. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love pesto sauce and this recipe was delicious! It's a great way to make a new spin on pesto and the roasted red peppers created a great flavor. This dish was very popular with my two boys, they loved it. The only thing I would warn people is that this pesto is very rich when served with ravioli. I think that the pesto might be even better with linguine or another type of unstuffed pasta. Since the ravioli had cheese and the pesto had cheese it was a little rich. Make sure to serve small portions, since a little goes a long way!

This recipe is not available online without a subscription,if you have one it can be found here, but it can also be found in the January/February issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine.

Food and Wine Roasted Beets with Pistachios, Herbs, and Orange

As I've mentioned before I love beets. I have been known to eat an entire jar of pickled beets by myself in one sitting. I am also the same person that gets overly excited when I go to a craft show and they have someone selling jars of pickled beets in their stall, yum. For most of my life I enjoyed my beets pickled and eaten sliced or whole with a large serving of sour cream. Everyone else in my family couldn't stand my beloved beets and refused to partake in my delicious treasures. However, approximately two years ago I stumbled across a recipe for roasted beets and everything changed. My family discovered that they could actually enjoy beets. Now I make roasted beets a couple of times a month and they are always happily eaten. The March issue of Food and Wine magazine had a recipe for Roasted Beets with Pistachios, Herbs and Orange which looked very easy to prepare and full of flavor from the fresh herbs.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes an hour and twenty minutes to prepare and cook, twenty minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. The beets that I purchased were very large and therefore took longer than the hour baking time suggested by the recipe. I had a hard time breaking the cinnamon stick into pieces and only broke it in half instead of into four pieces. To save on time during dinner prep I made the dressing in the morning, which I feel helped to make the flavors blend together and become more flavorful by the time it was served at dinner. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

While this recipe takes 15 ingredients, the taste is really quite simple. The fresh herbs create a nice fresh flavor, which is light and not overbearing. The presentation is beautiful with the color from the beets and the contrast with the green color of the pistachios and celery leaves. My husband liked this dish, but felt that for him it was a little too simple in taste. My two boys ate the beets, but picked off the nuts and fresh herbs. A beautiful dish that is very healthy and simple.

For the recipe Roasted Beets with Pistachios, Herbs, and Orange.

Better Homes and Gardens Curried Chicken Stew

I love my slowcooker. I know I have stated this many times before, but I can't express my love enough. There is nothing better than placing ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and coming back in the evening to a fully cooked and delicious meal. With two active and growing boys I appreciate anything that saves me time and money during the hectic week. I also appreciate how inexpensive slowcooker meals tend to be, they are normally a fraction of the cost of other recipes. One meal that my family loves in or out of the crockpot is curry. My husband would probably live on curry if I let him. I have had a hard time finding curry recipes for the crockpot that have been up to my expectations and I was interested when the December issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine had a recipe for Curried Chicken Stew, which only cost $2.08 per serving and looked very simple to prepare.

This recipe has 10 ingredients (if using all optional ingredients). It takes 8 hours on low to cook in the crockpot and 20 minutes of prep and makes 4 servings. All the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store and I made no modifications to the ingredients. For the curry paste I used a jar of yellow Thai curry paste that I already had in my fridge. As I always do I cooked this recipe on low in my crockpot, I prefer to cook low and slow in my slowcooker. For the carrots I used baby carrots since they were on sale and saved me a little bit of prep time. I chose to serve the stew over rice and sprinkled it with raisins and pistachios. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband was very impressed with this stew. He was surprised that it was able to come out as well as it did in the slowcooker and he ate his serving and all the leftovers the next day. The recipe states that it makes 4 servings, but it served my family of  four, plus enough for leftover in my husband's lunch the next day. I loved how easy this was to make and how well the flavors came together. Overall, a great new recipe for the crockpot.

 For the recipe go to Curried Chicken Stew.