Parsley In a Pasta Salad

We're celebrating parsley today! I believe parsley is a somewhat underrated herb. Yes, you often see it sprinkled on the side of your plate when you're eating at a restaurant, and we use it to dust the tops of our sauces when we make pasta, but you rarely see it featured as a main ingredient in a recipe. I think parsley has a great taste and I'm growing it because I frequently use it in my cooking.

Here's my parsley baby:

I was trying to figure out the best way to showcase parsley's flavor talents and I thought to do this, I should leave it raw, uncooked, unheated. The always perfect cold dish is none other than: the pasta salad. Mother's Day was coming up so I decided to make this Greek inspired pasta salad for our family cookout and chose parsley to be the subtle star of the dish. Pasta salads are always great for cookouts because most of them don't use mayonnaise, which can spoil and make you sick if you eat it after it's been sitting out unrefrigerated for hours. This one uses a balsamic vinaigrette as the dressing, and lots of fresh parsley.

I have to say, I love a good pasta salad. Don't get me wrong, plenty of pasta salads at cookouts and barbeques all over this country are kind of been-there-done-that and not all that exciting. You know what I'm talking about.  The ones I love are unique pasta salads that use unexpected ingredients and take a little more time and care to conceive. I use pasta salads as a challenge to create something new and try to never make the same one twice - unless it's so good I can't resist! I even try to find fun and different kinds of pastas to use in these salads. This time I found one called campanelle (meaning "little bells" in Italian) at Wegman's and I think it gave this salad the perfect unique touch.

I think this pasta salad turned out pretty well and hope you enjoy it as much as my family did on Mother's Day. I have to mention I got the ultimate compliment from my mom when she said, "I would pay for this food in a restaurant." Thanks mom! :-)

OK, let's get cookin'!


Greek Inspired Pasta Salad

Servings: 8
Prep. time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 pound uncooked pasta - I used campanelle but you can use orecchiette or even penne, just make sure it's bite sized
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
3/4 of a vidalia or sweet onion, sliced thin
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 vine ripened tomato
1 handful pitted kalamata olives
6 teaspoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 handfuls feta cheese crumbles

For the Dressing:
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place a large pot filled 3/4 of the way with water on the stove over high heat.

Arrange the sliced peppers and onions on a non-stick baking sheet. Sprinkle with the salt & pepper and then drizzle with the 4 teaspoons of olive oil. Use a spatula to stir up the veggies, making sure that they're all coated in the oil and s&p. Spread them out in an even layer over the sheet.

Place them in the oven to roast for 20 minutes. At the ten minute mark, mix them up a little using a spatula to make sure they're cooking evenly.

When the water comes to a boil, add your pasta as well as a sprinkle of salt. Allow the pasta to cook to al dente by following the time instructions on the box the pasta came in.

Once the pasta is done cooking, drain the water using a colander. Place the colander under your faucet and run cold water over the pasta for about three minutes.

Make sure all excess water is off of the pasta and then dump the pasta into a large serving bowl.

After the peppers and onions are done roasting, remove them from the oven and immediately pour them over the cooked pasta. Add in the tomatoes and olives at this time and toss to mix in all the veggies with the pasta.

To make the dressing, use a dressing bottle or food storage container with a tight fitting lid to combine the cup of olive oil with the 1/2 cup of balsamic, as well as the 1/2 teaspoon each of the salt & pepper. Make sure the lid is tightly secured and then vigorously shake the container for about 30 seconds. This will create the dressing.

Pour 3/4 of the dressing over the pasta salad and stir to coat it. (If you're going to be serving your salad right away, this will be all of the dressing you will use. Use the leftovers for a nice green salad later!)

Sprinkle half of the chopped parsley over the salad and stir to combine.

Place the bowl of pasta salad in the fridge to chill before serving.

If you've waited several hours by the time you're ready to serve your pasta salad, the pasta will have soaked up quite a bit of the dressing and you'll need to add the remaining 1/4 at this time. Then add the other half of the chopped parsley as well as the feta cheese crumbles. No need to stir this time - it'll all get mixed in when you dish the salad out onto your serving places. Salute!

Thyme to Shine!

Time for recipe number two in my celebrating-May-through-fresh-herbs series! Today we're going to be focusing on thyme. I know I did another recipe featuring thyme recently, but I wanted to give you another one because thyme is truly one of my favorite herbs. It's very fragrant, it looks so delicate and unique on the stem, and it can really brighten up any dish with its fresh taste. Plus it is one of the herbs I'm growing in my own humble little garden. Look!:

I use thyme often in conjunction with another favorite herb of mine - rosemary - but I wanted to present you with a recipe that was really going to make the thyme shine and stand out on its own. I think these potato flatcakes do that successfully.

Thyme pairs well with potatoes and I use it to season them all of the time (like these roasted herb potatoes). I wanted to shake it up a little though and use both the potatoes and the thyme in an unexpected way, and with that these potato flatcakes were born. The mashed potatoes and other somewhat simple flavors in this dish really give the thyme something to stand out against. The flavor of the thyme shines and shows you who the star of this dish is.

Alright, it's time (pun intended!): Let's get cookin'!


Thyme Potato Flatcakes

Servings: 4
Prep. time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
1 head of garlic
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra on stand-by as needed for frying all of the cakes
1 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 rounded tablespoon sour cream
1 tablespoon hot sauce (like Tabasco)
4 Idaho potatoes, peeled
6 teaspoons of butter
2 handfuls of grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped fine
1 egg
1 cup plain breadcrumbs


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut a head of garlic in half, around the center. Place each half, cut side up on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon each of the sea salt & black pepper.

Wrap in the aluminum foil and place on the middle rack in the oven.

Allow to cook while you make the sauce, as well as prepare, boil, and drain the potatoes.

To make the sauce, simply add the sour cream & the hot sauce to a small mixing bowl and stir to combine. Place plastic wrap over the top of the bowl and put in the fridge to keep cold while you continue making the rest of the food.

Moving on to the potatoes. Place a large pot halfway full with water on the stove over high heat. While you're waiting for that to come to a boil, cut the peeled potatoes into cubes. Place all of the potatoes in the water to cook.

Check them periodically to test if they're done by fishing one or two out with a spoon and pressing a fork into them. They should be not just fork tender, but mushy.

Once they reach the mushy stage, they're done cooking. Carefully pour the water and potatoes into a colander in the sink to drain. After the water has been drained, place the potatoes back into the warm pot that you cooked them in and place the pot back on the stove over the burner you cooked them on.

At this point, remove the garlic from the oven and carefully open the aluminum foil to expose the roasted garlic.

Hold the bottom of the halves and pluck the roasted garlic from their pouches using a fork and place them all in the pot with the drained potatoes. Discard the skins.

Next, add the butter, parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and most importantly - the thyme.

Mash with a potato masher until they're smooth and all of the ingredients are combined.

Next, add the egg and bread crumbs and stir to combine with a rubber spatula.

Warm 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Wet your hands and roll about 2 tablespoons of the mashed potatoes into a ball. Place three of the balls in the skillet.

Using the flat bottom of a spatula, press down on the top of each ball to create a flattened cake, like a pancake.

Let cook on one side until the bottom is crispy and brown. Carefully flip over to the other side and cook until it's crispy and brown. Remove from the skillet and place on a plate to drain the oil slightly before putting on your serving dish(es).

Repeat this until you're through all of the potatoes, adding more oil to the pan as you go, as needed.

Once you're done cooking all of the potato flats and the oil has been drained from them, place them on your serving dish(es). Use a teaspoon to scoop up the sauce and drizzle it over the flats (or if you're allergic to sour cream like me, just pour some of the hot sauce directly on your potato flats).

Serve warm alongside a salad, some steamed broccoli, or a piece of baked chicken and enjoy. Salute!

May Day

Happy May!! May is one of my favorite months of the year. Here in the mid-Atlantic, the weather gets consistently warmer, there are flowers everywhere, and it's host to my absolute favorite weekend of the year: Memorial Day weekend... the weekend the pool opens for the summer!

To celebrate this fantastic month I thought I would do something a little special here on my blog. I'm a big fan of cooking with fresh herbs - that is herbs that are not dried and don't come in little containers sold by McCormick. While those dried herbs do have their place and I use them occasionally, I love using fresh herbs when I cook. I love using them so much in fact that I grow a variety of herbs myself. I haven't had much luck with starting them from seeds, so I buy some that have already been started and plant them myself in my own pots and keep them near the windows at my house. I call them my "plant babies" :-) Anyway, my idea for this month is to feature each of my plant babies in their own recipe and share them with you.

I had actually been able to maintain several herb plants over a couple of years, but unfortunately last year they got infected with spider mites. While I was able to keep the plants alive with fresh growth for some time, I finally had to give up and throw them out, which broke my heart. I have since replaced them with new plant babies and am crossing my fingers that they don't succumb to the same fate as the old ones. My fresh plant babies include: basil, oregano, curly parsley, rosemary, thyme, spearmint, and lavender.

Lavender.

While I started out being not partial to the scent of lavender (its very strong and soapy scent), it has grown on me over time and now I quite like it. I mainly bought it because I think it's lovely and I now do enjoy its fragrance, but I was trying to think of ways I could use it for cooking. I came across a picture on Pinterest of a lavender-honey cupcake and was inspired by that very classic flavor combination. I decided to make it into an iced-tea.

Now I know I have very recently blogged about another favorite iced-tea of mine, but hey - it's spring, it's warm outside and therefore I figure you can never have too many iced-tea recipes in your refreshments arsenal. I made this tea for a lunch I was hosting at my house and it was a hit, so I thought I'd share it with you to kick off my month of May / herb celebration.

While most of the time you see lavender flowers, or the dried form, used in cooking, I don't yet have any flowers blooming on my newly purchased lavender plant. I gave the stems and leaves a good sniff and realized that they are very fragrant themselves and figured it couldn't hurt to try using them in the recipe instead of the flower petals. It worked out perfectly.

I decided to pair it with white tea because white tea is so light, its flavor wouldn't interfere with the flavors I wanted to highlight - the lavender and the honey.

OK, enough background info - let's get cookin'!

Lavender Honey Iced Tea

Servings: 1 pitcher
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes + about two hours to cool in the fridge

Ingredients:
1 tea kettle of water
4 white tea bags
1/3 cup clover honey
5 sprigs lavender leaves

Place the tea kettle of water on a burner over high heat.

While you're waiting for the water to boil, make your lavender infused honey. Pour the honey into a sauce pan sitting on a burner set on medium-low heat and add four of the lavender stems to it. Allow to infuse the entire time the water is coming to a boil for the tea, as well as while the tea is steeping, so about 15 minutes total.

When the water is done, remove the kettle from the heat, take the lid off, and put the four tea bags directly into the water.

Steep for five minutes and then remove the tea bags from the water and discard.

Remove the lavender infused honey from the heat. Carefully pick out the lavender stems and leaves from the warm honey. Pour the honey into your pitcher followed immediately by the hot tea, and stir until the honey has dissolved.

Add the remaining lavender stem to the tea and then place the pitcher in the fridge to cool completely. This will take about two hours.

Once the tea is completely cooled, serve over ice, or as I prefer- without, and enjoy! Salute!

Simple Sides

Boy, have I been eating poorly lately! And by "poorly" I mean pizza, pasta, ice cream... everyday. For like four days. OK, six days. Understandably, I decided I needed a little detox. I was craving some good, healthy veggies in my diet and these two recipes were my saviors.

I have been making both of these recipes since I was in college (so for like eight or nine years if you're counting) and they are my go-to easy side dishes. The potatoes are great any time of year, but the green beans I especially like in the warm months, hence why they came to mind to make now.

My boyfriend needed a little something extra, so he made some chicken and I think both of these recipes are great side dishes for a simply seasoned chicken breast. They'd also go great with a grilled steak in the summer time, or a nice hearty piece of white fish. Oh... and they also pair nicely with a cold glass of sauvignon blanc, which I know from personal experience! ;-)

In any case, these are simple, quick to prepare, but still very tasty side dishes. I know because the boyfriend kept commenting on how good everything was while he was eating it and thanked me for dinner several times! I'm hoping you feel the same way about them.

Let's get cookin'!

Up first...

Roasted Herb Potatoes

Servings: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
4 red skinned potatoes, diced
1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
4 sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spread out the diced potatoes over a baking sheet.

Drizzle them with the EVOO and sprinkle with the rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper. Make sure your hands are clean and then toss the potatoes (with your clean hands) to coat them in the olive oil and herbs. When you're done, make sure that the potatoes are evenly spread out over the baking sheet once again.

Place the baking sheet in the oven on the middle rack. You're going to let them cook for 25 minutes total, but during that time you're going to flip them over every five minutes so that they cook evenly and don't burn on any one side.

After they have cooked for 25 minutes (and you've flipped them over every five minutes throughout), they should be crispy, golden brown, but still moist and not dried out. Remove them from the oven and place directly on your serving plates, alongside some lemon-garlic green beans (recipe to follow).


Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

Servings: 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 17 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 pound fresh green beans, ends trimmed
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1/3 lemon, cut into two wedges
Salt & pepper to taste

Note: If you're making these to go with the herb potatoes, save some time and cook them while you're roasting the potatoes in the oven. Start the beans when there are about fifteen minutes left in the cooking time of the potatoes and then they will both be ready around the same time. Then there's no waiting to eat, everything stays warm, and if you have a guest (or guests) over, you'll look like a cooking genius!

Warm the EVOO in a medium sized skillet over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and let that saute for about two minutes, watching to make sure it doesn't burn or start browning.

Add the green beans to the skillet, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and toss to coat them in the oil and garlic. Allow to cook for about five minutes, occasionally stirring.

Squeeze one lemon wedge over the beans, cut side up to make sure no seeds fall in. Toss the green beans so that they're covered in the juice.

Reduce the heat to low and allow to cook for another five minutes. Squeeze the second lemon wedge over the pan (cut side up again!), tossing the beans in the liquid.

Cook for five more minutes, still over low heat. Remove from the pan and place the beans on your serving dish. I served them with the herb potatoes and a lightly dressed mixed greens salad for a light, healthy dinner. Salute!

Buff ' Boys

As I mentioned in my very first post, I am a lacto-ovo pescetarian (even though I never refer to myself as that because it sounds so hoity toity and pretentious. I just say I'm a vegetarian and leave it at that.), and therefore I occasionally eat seafood. I don't really like that much seafood, but I do like shrimp. Spiced shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp kabobs, shrimp scampi, shrimp in salad, shrimp on pasta, shrimp tempura sushi, shrimp po'boys... OK enough of my Bubba Gump-like tangent. You get the point: this girl enjoys some shrimp!

Speaking of po'boys - they are one of my favorite ways to eat shrimp. I get so excited when I see it on a menu in a restaurant because I love them so much! My favorite one is on the lunch menu at our local McCormick & Schmicks and I have to say, even though they are not a Louisiana-style restaurant, they know how to do a po' boy up right! The remoulade sauce, the crispy fried shrimp, the toasty bread, fresh tomatoes and crunchy lettuce. Hell.Yeah.

I decided to take this idea of a po'boy and run with it. My FAVORITE favorite kind of shrimp are buffalo shrimp. I discovered these fantastic buffalo shrimp at a local restaurant called The Fish Market, and honestly it was love at first sight. The first time I had them I got two orders, they were so good! Anyways, they gave me the idea to try and make my own at home. I made them and they turned out sooo tasty that I wanted to use them in my own version of a po'boy... or as I like to call it, a buff'boy. And that is the recipe I am sharing with you today, you lucky ducks!

Instead of the remoulade sauce used on a traditional po'boy, I wanted to use blue cheese dressing of course, because that is the best thing in which to dip buffalo shrimp. Duh. No brainer. (I used store bought to save time. Don't judge me!) My boyfriend doesn't care for blue cheese, so he had the idea to make a different sauce out of sour cream for his sandwich. That is why you will see two different sauces for this recipe. Use whichever one you prefer. (Go for the blue cheese!) Or hey - you could even use a ranch dressing.

I used store bought buffalo sauce this time, but I promise I am going to come up with my own recipe for it eventually and share it with you. I just need time!

OK, the wait is over, let's get cookin'!


Buff ' Boys

Ingredients:
1 pound of medium size, peeled, deveined, uncooked shrimp
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon Caribbean seasoning (if you can't find that, just throw in some garlic powder to substitute)
24 ounces, or one small bottle, of oil for frying. I used a blend of canola, soy, and olive but you can use whatever - like vegetable or conola
3/4 cup buffalo sauce
4 teaspoons sour cream
2 sub rolls
6 big leaves of lettuce
2 tablespoons blue cheese dressing


Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

To start, get a large ziplock baggie ready to fill with the flour coating. Add the flour, pepper, cayenne, cumin, onion powder, and caribbean seasoning to the baggie. Close the bag securely and shake so that all the seasonings get mixed together evenly. Set aside.

Place the shrimp in a colander and rinse under cool water. One by one, cut the shrimp by slicing them down the center on their backs, cutting all the way through. Make sure to leave the tail in tact. They should look like this:

After you cut the shrimp, place them in the bag with the flour combo. Once all of the shrimp are in the mixture, close the bag and shake to coat them in the flour.

Remove the shrimp one by one and place them, sprawled out, on a baking sheet or large plate - something that will fit in your fridge. Once they're all set up, place the sheet/plate in the fridge to chill for ten minutes.

Take advantage of the time while the shrimp are chilling to make the condiment sauce, to prepare the bread for toasting and the oil for frying. To make the sauce, scoop 4 teaspoons of sour cream into a bowl. Add 2 teaspoons of the buffalo sauce and stir to thoroughly combine. Set aside unitl you're ready to put together the sandwich.

Now the bread: Slice each sub rool down the center, long ways, making sure you don't cut all the way through. Pick out the stuffing of the bread from one side of the roll and discard.

Place in the oven to toast for three to five minutes, depending on how crispy you want it. Keep in longer if you want it really crispy, shorter if you just want it lightly toasted. Remove and set aside to cool while you finish cooking.

Prepare the oil for frying. Place all 24 ounces of oil in a large, deep Dutch oven or pot - whatever you have that is going to leave at least three inches from the top of the oil to the rim of the pot - over medium high heat. To check if the oil is ready to use, place a wooden spoon in the pot, allowing it to touch the bottom. If there are bubbles streaming off the spoon at a rapid pace, it's ready to use. We have Rachael Ray to thank for that nifty trick!

Take the shrimp out of the fridge and place them in the oil in batches of eight. Use metal tongs to stir them, turning them over in the oil periodically.

I like a nice, light colored crisp on them, so I leave them in for just three or four minutes. Remove from the oil using the tongs and drain the oil off by placing the fried shrimp on a plate covered with a paper towel.

Once the oil is drained off, place the shrimp in a bowl and toss with about 2 tablespoons of buffalo sauce.

Remove promptly and place them on a clean plate. Repeat this process for each batch of shrimp.

To assemble the sandwiches, spoon the sauce you made onto one of the rolls and the blue cheese dressing on to the other roll - on the flat sides.

Next, lay down the lettuce leaves (three per sami) on top of the sauce, overlapping them a little.

Last, place a couple handfuls of buffalo shrimp into the scooped-out side of the roll. Fold over and serve with a side of celery sticks and baby carrots. Salute!

>Here's an eating tip for ya, courtesy of my boyfriend, Travis: Take the edges of the lettuce that are sticking out the sides, fold them over the shrimp and tuck them in under the bread. This helps the shrimp stay in and not fall out when you take bites.

>>Here's another tip for you! I used to avoid frying stuff because of the mess it makes. It was always a struggle to figure out what to do with the oil when you're done frying. You can't dump it down the sink and it's not like you're going to save it to use again (ew!), so what to do? I was at a loss until I bought my little friend, the funnel. Now I just save the bottle the oil came in, put the funnel in the mouth of the bottle, and once the oil has cooled to room temperature, I carefully dump the oil from the pot into the funnel and back into the bottle. Then you just throw the oil filled bottle away. Problem solved. Easy as that!