Pesto Pasta

One of my favorite summer recipes is fresh pesto pasta. Basil from the store is totally acceptable, but nothing beats fresh picked basil. It's so pungent and flavorful. This is my mother's recipe and will always remind me of summer. I tried Garofalo fusilli and it was really nice - fluffier than most. This easy pasta is a great, fast dinner.

Ingredients:
About 2-3 cups fresh basil (several big bunches)
3 garlic gloves, roughly chopped (less if you're not that into garlic)

Vegetable Garden Week 12

First, please excuse the truck and portapotty in the background - the house is under construction. My garden is doing so well! The zucchinis are huge and I got 5 little ones that grew from last weekend to this. (I picked them all since I'll be gone the next 2 weekends in Greece! Recipes to follow, of course.) I grilled them up and fried the blossoms. Sooo tasty.

Fried Zucchini Blossoms

This may be my favorite summer hors d'oeuvres - it's crispy and light and flavorful and just tastes like summer. It's also pretty. You can actually often find zucchini blossoms at the Union Square Green Market, but I picked these from my garden. (Don't pick too many or you won't get any zucchini!) The light batter makes the flowers fry up to be crispy but not at all heavy. Some people stuff the blossoms with ricotta or mozzarella etc, but I think they're perfect plain. If you can get some zucchini blossoms, try this!! They're amazing.

Ingredients:
zucchini blossoms, with one slit made down the side
flour

Basil White Bean Dip

After checking on my garden and gathering up a heaping pile of basil, I wondered what to do with it. We had already bought a can of white beans to make some white bean dip, and I thought I would spice it up a little by adding the basil and making it a sort of pesto dip. It was delicious! So fresh and summery, and basil picked right from the garden is so pungent and flavorful. This dip takes about 5 minutes to make and is great to serve as an hors d'oeuvres.

Ingredients:
1 can white/cannelini beans, drained
1 large bunch basil

Vegetable Garden Week 11

Everything in the garden is growing so well. There was lots of rain this week and it seems to have made a huge difference. The pea vines were covered in peas.

The zucchini plants were full of blossoms and there was one little zucchini ready to eat and a couple babies that will be ready next weekend. The zucchinis I planted from seed are striped and those I planted from seedlings are regular green, so there'll be a little variety.

Garden Dinner

I picked my first veggies from my garden last weekend, but I didn't have too many so I had to supplement at a farm stand. I picked up local Long Island scallions and sugar snap peas at the stand. Then at my place, I picked some small Swiss Chard and some basil. I wanted to make a fresh, easy, summery pasta for Sunday night. I sauteed it all together and tossed it with pasta and it was delicious - a real fresh, simple, garden dinner. Feel free to substitute whatever fresh veggies you have!

Ingredients:
a handful of Swiss chard, chopped
4 scallions, halved lengthwise then cut into 1 inch strips
a bunch of sugar snap peas, bigger peas halved
olive oil
red pepper flakes
small bunch of basil, thinly sliced
grated pecorino romano (or parm)

Directions:
Heat about 1-2 tbsp of olive oil in a big skillet. Add the stems of the chard, the scallions, and the snap peas. Saute until they start to soften, then add Swiss Chard leaves, half of the basil, and pepper flakes to taste. Also add salt and pepper to taste and saute a little bit longer until leaves are wilted.

Meanwhile, cook some sort of bite sized pasta (I had elbows, so I used those). When the pasta is al dente, use a spider strainer (or just strain it and add part of the pasta water) and put into the skillet. Grate some cheese on top and mix it all together and serve!

Vegetable Garden Week 10

I don't know if it was least week's heat wave, but the garden is growing like crazy! The zucchini are enormous, the yellow brandywine tomato has grown up to about 3 feet, the green grape tomato is bushy and thick, and the three Better Boy tomatoes are starting really grow (about a foot high now). The Swiss Chard is growing and I was actually able to harvest some - dinner recipe will follow soon.

The peas are getting a little too tall for their trellis, but there are finally peas to be had!

The basil is also growing like crazy, and one of the peppers has its first flower. I can't wait til next weekend when I can start pulling off peas. The mulch (and all the rain) has helped keep the garden moist, and the new marigolds and nasturtium give it a little more color. The zucchinis are starting to have little blossoms, so that'll add some nice yellow/orange flowers. And fried zucchini blossoms are out of this world (recipe will follow). The eggplant is also finally growing, yay!

Jamie behind the peas

 Beautiful healthy garden

 Me with my basil and Swiss Chard - first harvest from the garden

 My pretty rainbow Swiss Chard

Easy Pasta with Fresh Tomato, Mozzarella, and Garlic Sauce

This is one of the easiest dinners - and one of the tastiest. It's best in summer when the tomatoes are fresh and ripe, but can be done in the winter with good looking grape tomatoes. I had the supplies already (tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, mozzarella) so I threw it together this morning before leaving for work. The longer it sits the better it tastes. It's so fresh and delicious and tastes like summer with its bright flavor. Mmm.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes, torn into bite size pieces (this makes it juicier) or chopped, about a cup
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
good pour of extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4-1/3 cup
about 1/2 cup of diced fresh mozzarella
teaspoon kosher salt
pinch hot pepper flakes
basil or parsley, chopped

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let sit. If it's more than a couple of hours before dinner, put it in the fridge. If not, just leave it out. Salt/add more spice to taste. Toss with hot pasta (fusilli or bow ties or other bite sized pasta is best) and top with freshly chopped parsley or basil.

Orient Express

Thanks to a great DailyCandy deal, Jamie and I finally made it to Orient Express in the West Village. It's really cute and a great date spot. It was quiet with dim light and very charming and fashioned like an Orient-Express train. They're known for their cocktails, and they're great! We had the D&S and the Danube (pictured). The D&S was a dark and stormy with a twist - Jamaican jerk seasoning. It was kind of spicy and reminiscent of a bloody Mary. The Danube was very refreshing with vodka, lime, and cucumber. Jamie thought it was a bit too thick. The food was yummy and good for sharing. Kind of Turkish inspired (after the route of the famous Venice Simplon-Orient-Express). We had the pastirma (a Turkish dried meat), a delicious cheese plate with several cheeses and accoutrements, and Hungarian sausage. Great date spot! Probably more suited for winter. Also, would be great to sit at the bar with a cocktail and split an appetizer.

Vegetable Garden Week 9

Look at my wonderful garden! Everything is growing well and looks happy and healthy. The peas have grown a foot since last weekend and have a few flowers on them, so hopefully pea pods will be soon to follow. The eggplant looks happier than it did, the zucchini grew a ton and has its big leaves stretched out. The green grape tomato and the yellow brandywine tomato have grown a lot - the green grape especially (right in the middle).

Jamie next to the peas (to show how high they've grown)

Pea flowers

I finished up the planting this weekend, so now it's just a matter of watering and making sure the herbs don't go to flower. I planted thyme, mint, nasturtium, amd marigolds. The nasturtiums and marigolds are good to plant near tomatoes and zucchini (and other veggies) because they keep bad bugs away. Apparently the smell of the marigolds along with a chemical they put into the soil keep bugs at bay. Plus they add great color to a vegetable garden. I watered the garden heavily and applied a layer of mulch which made it look much neater, and also helps the soil hold the moisture and keeps weeds from sprouting. The Swiss Chard looks about ready to start taking a few leaves off to put in a salad, but I'm going to let them get a little better. Of course, before I left to come back to the city, I doused the whole garden with heavy dose of the awful smelling (and miracle working) deer/rabbit repellent. Can't wait to see how big they are next weekend!