Summertime Indulgences

The Bomb Dot Com Kale Pesto

Pesto is delicious, but unfortunately it comes with a price. It usually means you end up stripping your basil plant of all its leaves or spending a fortune on basil from the grocery store. This recipe for kale pesto is pure GENIUS. The huge bunches of kale at the grocery store are a couple dollars at most. I found this recipe on this wonderful blog. Her food is so creative and has been confirmed-TASTY! Have no more fear of that crazy, tough looking lettuce in your produce section.

If you love pesto and don't want to kill your basil plants, make this! It can be spread on bread, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, meat, and more!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups pecans, raw
2 big leaves Kale, stripped from the hard stalk
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
1 big garlic clove
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese


Directions

1.  In a food processor, dump in the pecans, lemon juice, basil, garlic, salt, olive oil, parsley, and kale.

2.  Pulse the food processor until the ingredients become incorporated  You may have to take a few tries at this, scraping down the edges with a spatula.

3.  Throw in the Parmesan cheese and blend on high for a minute or two, or until all of the pesto has been completely blended and any big kale bits are gone.

4.  While the food processor is running, drizzle in the last 2 tablespoons of olive oil. This will add the final touch to the pesto and give it a creamy texture.

This freezes wonderfully. But let's be honest, it's too good to throw in the freezer. Enjoy :)

Taking Brussels Sprouts for a spin!

I used to hate Brussels sprouts. (P.S. Who knew Brussels had an S on the end??!) But recently, I've grown fond of them. I usually cook them in a pan with some olive oil until they're golden brown. Then I pour caramelized balsamic vinegar all over them. (DELICIOUS.) But who knew they could be eaten raw!

This tasty little salad is bursting with flavors, textures, and nutritional ingredients. I got some inspiration from this lovely little blog post. By the time I decided I wanted to make it, I knew I wasn't going to have time to soak lentils. So I went for another protein option: garbanzo beans and hot-off-the-grill chicken.

This salad is crunchy, has little bites of sweetness, tangy-ness, and creaminess. Feel free to play with the flavors of the dressing too. This salad will wear it well! :)

Ingredients

Salad

1 Sweet potato, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 red onion, cut into bite sized pieces

8-10 Brussels sprouts, washed and chopped finely

Small handful of fresh basil leaves, julienned

3-4 green onions, chopped

1 can of garbanzo beans, drained

2 tomatoes, diced

Feta cheese 

Dressing

4-5 Tbs olive oil

1/2 lemon squeezed

2-3 Tbs red wine vinegar

Couple shakes of pepper

Couple shakes of garlic powder

Couple shakes of onion powder

Couple shakes of Italian seasoning

(put all of this into a small jar and shake vigorously!)

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  

2.  Cut up a sweet potato and red onion into bite sized pieces. Put into a small baking dish and toss with olive oil, pepper, and a touch of salt. Bake for about 40 minutes. 

3.  Meanwhile, wash the Brussels sprouts and chop them thinly. (The original recipe called for shredded sprouts, but that did not end up well. I recommend chopping rather than shredding.)

4.  Dump sprouts into a big bowl and add in chopped green onion, julienned basil leaves, and sweet potato and onion mixture once cooled.  

5.  Dump in a can of garbanzo beans, if desired, and mix.  

6.  Add the chopped tomatoes and feta cheese to the top. 

7.  Serve with grilled chicken and with lemon-dressing drizzled on top. 

Birthday cake for the win!

To celebrate my sister's birthday this year, I made a birthday cake to top all of my other creations.

This cake turned out pretty well considering how difficult it was to get the cake out of the rounds.  It was so sticky! And moist. I hate that word. 

This cake had shaved dark chocolate on top.

Dark chocolate mousse in the middle layers that was oh-so-fluffy.

And dark chocolate ganache poured all over the top of it.

I take it you're sensing a theme by now.

But, uncharacteristically, I went for a vanilla-cake inside. And it was the perfect contrast.

Enough with the pictures! Carl couldn't wait to dig in :)

PhD-Comps-Muffins

My dearest sister is taking her comprehensive exams today to get one step closer to her PhD! I wanted to do something special for Rebecca because she's been studying her butt off for the past many months. And now that she is living with her hunk-of-a-man and no longer with me, I figured she may be in need of some lovin' from Regina's kitchen.

I got this recipe from my favorite blogging woman, Ree (Pioneer Woman, P-Dub, PW, etc.). Seriously. Ree's blog is out of this world. I believe I have raved about her before, so let's get to the point. Ree's Mom's muffins made a special appearance on her blog last week and caught my eye. Here is the original recipe.  I pretty much followed it to a T except halving the sugar and scraping the raisins (didn't have any) and brought some additional flours to the party.

These were very tasty and cakey! But they came out almost too sweet for me. (Probably next time I'll reduce the brown sugar even more....I know...I'm weird.) And I also did a smaller batch with some blueberries because the Love Of My Life loves blueberries, and I know he'll want to try these, too. :)

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cups oat flour
1/4 cups buckwheat
1/4 cups oat bran
1/4 cup ground flaxseed/flaxseed meal
1 cup Regular Oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2+ tsp cinnamon
1/2 cups pecans, chopped and toasted

1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
1 whole banana, mashed  (Rebecca hide your eyes!!)
1/4 cup molasses

(Rebecca... You don't see the mashed bananas.... you're distracted by the flowers) :)

Directions

1.   Preheat oven to 350F.
2.   Add buttermilk, egg, applesauce, banana, and molasses to a big mixing bowl. Whisk together.
3.   Add all of the dried ingredients and nuts to another mixing bowl and mix.
4.   Pour the dried ingredients into the wet-ingredients bowl and mix together. Let it stand for a couple of minutes. The batter will begin to rise and get fluffy.
4. a)    I added blueberries to half of the batter so I could try out blueberry muffins.
5.   Fill the cupcake pan cups  (well greased or lined with cupcake paper) almost to the top.
6.   Bake for about 18 minutes.
7.   Serve with butter (oh no!) or next to a pile of Greek yogurt and berries! :)

Oh, Sunday . . .

Spent Sunday morning chasing down my man on a road bike and finished it all off with Le Buzz breakfast. :)

                     

 

Quinoa Bites!

I'm alive! And back with a delicious recipe you must try tonight! Quinoa bites! Full of sweet and spicy flavors.

These are some pretty tasty little things. If you need a healthy, savory appetizer or a side to your main dish--these are your ticket! I put these together in no time, and got them out of the oven as the evening sunset was fading away.

I ate these with some homemade chili. They're probably the perfect accompaniment to some delicious minestrone soup! I adapted the recipe from this lovely blog.


Ingredients

2 cups cooked quinoa  = about 1 cup dried quinoa + 2 cups water  (you'll have some extra)
3/4 cups Gruyere cheese, grated  (I used Gouda because that's what Sprout's had and--let's be honest--gouda is delicious)
2 eggs, beaten
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp Siracha sauce
1/2 tsp salt  (I didn't use salt)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs  (I used oat bran instead)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix everything together in a bowl.
3. Spoon out mixture into a greased cupcake pan. Fill each cup up to the top and pat down firmly. I barely managed to fill all cups in a 12 muffin-cup pan.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until nice and browned on top.
5. Let cool for 5 minutes and then serve these nice and warm!

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