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!

Head cheese ... Is not cheese!

About a week ago I went out to dinner with my father, we went to this great place called New World Bistro.  (Mom was out with friends...).  We shared a few tapas style appatizers, one of which was something I had never tried before, head cheese...which is not a cheese at all!

Head cheese is a jellied loaf or sausage made from chopped and boiled parts of the feet, head and sometimes tongue and heartbof an animal, usually a hog.

Yup.

I actually liked it.

Salads.

I love the colors in a good salad.  Pretty and tasty.

Stir fry over brown rice.

This is my blog post about a chicken stir fry over brown rice that I made - first use of my mini-wok.  (Is it sad that I bought a mini-wok ... being single and all that ... sigh?!?)

Ingredients:
Chicken
Sliced Onion
Fresh Broccoli
Chopped Carrots
Chopped Celery
Sliced Garlic

Cooked in veggie oil and stir-fry sauce.

Now ... onto Brown Rice.
I really like brown rice, so I bought a bag of it.  I've cooked it twice now, and I have yet to "properly" cook it either time ... it always comes out a bit too crunchy ... any suggestions from the throngs of readers I possess?  Hahaha...

Hamburger Pie

Today I made my own version of a Hamburger Pie.

Ingredients:
Chop Meat
1 Onion - chopped
Cayenne Pepper
Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper
HP Sauce
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Pillsbury Biscuits 

How To:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Brown chop meat with cayenne pepper, garlic powder, fresh cracked pepper and salt to taste.  When it is almost done add the chopped onions, and a few tablespoons of HP Sauce.  (If you can't get HP Sauce try using A1 Steak Sauce.)

"Pour" meat mixture into pie pan (lightly coated with olive oil).  Cover the meat with shredded cheddar cheese and the biscuits.  (I actually sliced the biscuits in half - thinning them out a bit.)

Bake for approx 15 minutes (or until the biscuits are browned).

Tasty.  

Though, next time I do it I need to figure out what to use in the mix to make the "meat" hold together a bit better as pie filling.