Garlic SCAPE Pesto

Well, today marks two culinary firsts for me.

1.) Working with garlic scapes (sounds horrible doesn't it ... they are just the flower stalks of garlic plants) ... they look rather silly -->

2.) Making a pesto.  Something I've never done before.  The scapes, and the recipe, came with this past weeks co-op vegetables.  So, thought I'd give it a go.

What's in the pesto you ask?

Garlic Scapes

Pine Nuts

Parmesan Cheese

Olive Oil

&

Salt & Pepper

In a little while I will cook some pasta and a piece of chicken to use the pesto ... smells divine just as it is, so I'm kind of eager to for dinner.  :)

Kale Chips

Garlic Kale Chips ... something I'd never heard of ... a vegetable I've never purchased (my folks are very generously sharing their co-op veg with me) ... and let me tell you, they rock (my parents and the kale chips)!

Super easy recipe:

Preheat oven to 350

Wash fresh kale.

Break kale into 'bite size' pieces.

Toss kale in a small bowl - with a bit of olive (or avocado) oil - use your hands to ensure kale is sufficiently covered.

Place kale in baking dish (the recipe I used called for a baking sheet with baking parchment on it which I didn't have ... so ...).

Sprinkle a bit of garlic powder on the kale.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Sprinkle a bit of salt on them ... and crunch away!

Basil & Onion Hamburgers

Today I cooked fresh basil (grown on my kitchen windowsill thank you very much) and chopped onion burgers.  Very tasty!!!  I was actually, and pleasantly, surprised that with the basil in the burger, they didn't need ketchup and mustard.  :)

And as I'm trying to cut down on my carb intake, no buns!