Fresh Corn & Rosemary Basil Pesto

I'm lucky to receive a steady supply of fresh rosemary from my friend Robin, who loves to cook as much as I do.

I decided to try making a pesto with my latest bundle of this fragrant herb. A recipe for herbed corn salsa in a recent issue of Good Housekeeping magazine inspired me. I just knew the pungent sauce would go well with some sweet, crisp corn.

This side dish goes well with grilled meats such as chicken or steak.

A little rosemary goes a long way, so to preserve what remained, I minced the rosemary leaves, blended them with a little olive oil and filled up an ice cube tray (which Robin also supplied). After freezing overnight, I removed the squares from the tray and put them into a zip-top freezer bag. Now I have perfectly sized cubes of rosemary ready to pop into all kinds of dishes.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Fresh Corn & Rosemary Basil Pesto

3 large ears of corn, grilled or cooked in the microwave
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Grill the ears of corn, shucked, until some kernels start to brown — or follow these directions for cooking the corn in the microwave.

Using a food processor, blend the basil, rosemary, Parmesan, garlic and salt until finely chopped. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and pulse until just combined.

Cut the kernels off the corn cobs (try this trick) and place the corn into a medium bowl. Add the pesto and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and enjoy!

Roasted & Stuffed Baby Eggplants

The cutest baby eggplants have been making regular appearances in my weekly haul from the farmer's market and I found an easy and delicious way to cook them, thanks to Real Simple.

You all know I'm an eggplant devotee, as I noted in this post about Eggplant with Chimichurri Sauce.

This latest take combines creamy eggplant with just the right savory flavors. It holds up well as leftovers, too. We served it as a side dish.

I mostly stuck to the original recipe, cutting back on the oil and sprinkling the cheese on top instead of serving it on the side. Hope you like it as much as we did.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Roasted & Stuffed Baby Eggplants
Inspired by this recipe from Real Simple.

6 baby eggplants
3 lemons
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
12 sprigs of fresh oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled


Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice each eggplant lengthwise, leaving the tops of the eggplants intact. Arrange eggplants in a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

Thinly slice one lemon. Squeeze the juice from the other 2 lemons and set aside.

Place lemon slices into the cut eggplants. Then insert 2 oregano sprigs and a few garlic slices into each eggplant.

Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the lemon juice and olive oil.

Cover with foil and roast for about 45 minutes or until eggplants are soft. Baste with pan juices about every 15 minutes.

Remove foil and cook for another 5 minutes. Transfer to individual plates and top with pan juices (if desired) and crumbled feta.

Note: Remove oregano sprigs before eating. The lemons become very soft and can be eaten in their entirety or discarded.

Summer Corn Chowder

My boys are loving all of the fresh corn on the cob I've been serving up lately, but I was ready for a change. And since we had more corn and potatoes than I knew what to do with, chowder seemed like just the thing.

This is summer comfort food all the way. The creamy soup is sweet and smoky, thanks to some bacon. It makes for a hearty lunch or pair with a green salad — and dinner is served.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Summer Corn Chowder
Inspired by this recipe from Kroger

2 1/2 cups fresh corn kernels
5 slices bacon, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium yellow potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken stock, plus more for thinning out chowder as needed
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced and diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Optional: your favorite hot sauce, shredded cheddar cheese

Using a sharp knife, stand corn cob in a shallow bowl or plate and slice off the corn kernels. After kernels are removed, scrape the cobs with the knife to squeeze out any remaining corn juice. Set aside.

In a Dutch oven or large pot, fry bacon until crisp over low heat. Remove bacon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Add the onion to the hot bacon grease and cook about 5 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and potatoes and cook another 2 minutes. Add chicken stock. Increase heat and bring to a simmer. Cover pot, lower heat to maintain the simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Add corn and milk and continue to cook with the pot covered, for about 10 more minutes, or until you can easily insert a knife into the potatoes.

Turn off heat. Use an immersion blender to roughly puree the soup to make it thick and chunky. (If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer about half of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return pureed corn and potato mixture to pot.)

Stir in Greek yogurt and salt and pepper to taste.

If the chowder is too thick, stir in more chicken stock, 1/2 cup at a time, until your reach a consistency to your liking.

Dish up into serving bowls and top with bacon, red pepper and green onions. A dash of hot sauce and a sprinkle of shredded cheese is also nice.

Crockpot Sweet Chili Chicken

Do you ever have a week when it feels like everything is hitting the fan?

Yeah. I'm having one of those weeks. Work is crazy. The kids are sick. The husband is stressed about a super duper important test he has to take for his job. And the house is in a total state of disarray. I've gotta get my act together. Or a cleaning lady.

With everything on my plate, I didn't have the mental capacity to get creative with dinner. So I stalked Pinterest for a simple meal with serious leftover potential. Thanks to Sweet Peas and Saffron for saving the day with this tasty slow cooker meal featuring the chicken breast that happened to be on sale this week. Boom. Crockpot Sweet Chili Chicken for the win.

A few minutes of work on Sunday afternoon, and we were eating hot dinner all week long. And this is a dump-and-stir kind of slow cooker meal, too. Easy, delicious, healthy—just what I needed on a crazy week. Now about that cleaning lady...

Let's get cooking!
Erin

Crockpot Sweet Chili Chicken
From Sweet Peas and Saffron

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (for me this was 3 huge breasts)
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Salt and pepper

For serving:
Cooked rice
Lime wedges (I think the lime really makes this meal special!)
Chopped fresh cilantro
Chopped peanuts

In a small bowl mix together chicken broth, chili sauce, and soy sauce. Place chicken in slow cooker. Pour chili sauce mixture over chicken and turn to coat. Cook for about 3 hours on low, until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees and you can shred the chicken pretty easily with a fork.

Remove chicken to a plate and use two forks to shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. Place back in slow cooker to keep it warm while you prep the sauce.

Pour cooking liquid into a small saucepan. Whisk together 1/4 cup water and cornstarch, then whisk into cooking liquid. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce begins to thicken, about 4-5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and stir to coat.

Serve chicken over cooked rice. Top it with a squeeze of lime and chopped cilantro and peanuts.

Grilled Eggplant with Chimichurri Sauce

Just like Amy, I am a huge fan of eggplant. And this summer, my weekly farmer's market basket has been filled with the cutest baby eggplants. The best thing about this is that it forces me to find new ways to prepare familiar vegetables.

Over the years my eggplant repertoire has grown from eggplant parmesan and simple grilled eggplant  to include Baba Ghannouj, Grilled Eggplant Salad (one of my all-time faves), and Eggplant and Green Pea Curry.

I recently discovered how delicious this purple-skinned veggie can be when oven roasted with other vegetables in a ratatouille or in Amy's Oven-Roasted Kohlrabi Medley.

This week I was craving eggplant from the grill, but wanted to spice it up a bit. We had cilantro, limes and fresh parsley on hand, so a chimichurri sauce was on the menu. The tangy dressing and the smoky eggplant are a match made in heaven.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Grilled Eggplant with Chimichurri Sauce
1 large eggplant or 2-3 small ones
Olive oil for brushing or use olive oil cooking spray
Salt & pepper
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice from 1 lime

Slice eggplants lengthwise into 1/4 inch slabs. Spray with cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.

Mix parsley, cilantro, garlic, vinegar, olive oil and lime juice together in a bowl. Set aside.

Heat outdoor grill to medium-high or warm your grill pan on the stove top on medium-high heat. Turn heat down to medium and place eggplant on grill. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until grill marks form. Flip eggplant over and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until eggplant is soft.

Remove from grill and place on serving platter. Pour chimichurri sauce over eggplant and enjoy.

**Note: If you have the time, you can puree the chimichurri in a blender for a smoother dressing.

Jamie's Pressure Cooker Fried Chicken

Today marks the start of another school year in my neck of the woods. With a 5th grader and a 2nd grader in the house, life just keeps getting busier.

All the more reason to seek out quick ways to get dinner on the table. Enter fellow mom Jamie and her penchant for healthy dinners made in the pressure cooker. If we both happened to be at the pool together with our kids this summer, we'd sit and talk recipes. Jamie has a knack for creating new recipes, too.

Since I'm still just dabbling with my pressure cooker, I asked Jamie to let me know the next time she came up with something yummy. Soon after our conversation, I got this message: "I just made fried chicken legs (my family's fave) in the power pressure cooker! Amazing and less mess!"

Jamie speaks the truth!

This fried chicken recipe comes together faster than the Oven Fried Chicken I made earlier this summer and I think it tastes even better.

Pressure cookers with a browning function are the key for this meal. The quick cooking process keeps the meat moist and flavorful while maintaining the crispy fried coating.

I served up fried chicken legs and fried boneless skinless chicken thighs from my pressure cooker and they were simply wonderful.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Jamie's Pressure Cooker Fried Chicken

4 to 8 chicken legs or 6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or some of both
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 to 1/3 cup flour
2-3 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1-2 teaspoons seasoned salt (I used a salt rub because that's what I had on hand)
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Oil (olive, avocado, coconut)
**A note on the spices: You can easily eyeball the amounts you use here. Just go with whatever seems right to you.

Rinse and dry chicken pieces with paper towels. Mix egg and mild in a medium bowl.

Mix flour and seasonings in a large bowl or large ziplock plastic bag.

I completed the following steps with 2 pieces of chicken at a time:

• Dip chicken into egg/milk mixture to coat.
• Transfer chicken to seasoned flour mixture and gently toss to ensure entire piece of chicken gets coated in the flour.
• Transfer chicken to a plate. 

Add 1 to 2 inches of oil to your pressure cooker. Hit the brown button. Once heated, add chicken and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes per side.

Here's how the chicken legs look after browning.

If all pieces of chicken do not fit in a single layer on the bottom of your pressure cooker, work in batches.

Return all browned chicken pieces to pressure cooker and lock on the lid. Pressure cook on the high setting for 15 or 20 minutes.

Let out the steam and remove lid.

Drain chicken on a plate lined with paper towels and let cool about 5 minutes. Enjoy warm or cold. So yummy!

And the best part? No oil splattered all over my stove top. The pressure cooker insert did a great job of controlling and retaining any splattering.

Slow Cooker Thai Curry Eggplant

A couple weeks ago, I posted this Facebook status update: "I made Thai curry eggplant for dinner. The whole family hates me."

Yeah, it was not a hit with the fam, but I liked it. Unlike the eggplant-hating husband and children, I crave a lighter meal now and then. And the leftovers made for some nice solo lunches and dinners for moi.

I just would cut the eggplant in smaller pieces next time — America's Test Kitchen Health Slow Cooker Revolution advised 1-inch pieces — so they cook down a bit more and are more bite-sized. I'd recommend half-inch hunks.


Several of my eggplant-loving friends responded to my Facebook status asking that I post the recipe. Friends, this one's for you.

XOXO,
Amy

Slow Cooker Thai Curry Eggplant
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Slow Cooker Revolution

2 pounds eggplant, cut inot half-inch pieces
4 shallots, minced
3 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
1 tablespoon honey
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons fish sauce — and more for seasoning, if desired
2 tablespoons instant tapioca
1/4 teaspoon salt —and extra salt (and pepper) to taste
1 pound snow peas, strings removed and cut in half
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, ad cut into 2-inch-long matchsticks
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice — and more for seasoning, if desired
Jasmine rice for serving

Adjust oven rack (if necessary) to be 6 inches from the broiler element and heat broiler. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with oil spray.

Toss eggplant, shallots, green curry paste and honey in large bowl. Spread eggplant mixture evenly on cookie sheet and broil until softened and beginning to brown — about 12 minutes — rotating the baking sheet halfway through.

Transfer eggplant mixture to slow cooker. Add in broth, fish sauce, tapioca and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and cook until fragrant and eggplant is softened -- about 4 hours.

Microwave snow peas, bell pepper and a tablespoon of water in a covered bowl, stirring occasionally, until tender but yet a little crisp. This will take 4 to 6 minutes. Drain vegetables and stir into curry.

Microwave coconut milk until hot — about 2 minutes. Stir into curry and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Season as desired with salt, pepper, and extra fish sauce and lime juice. Serve over jasmine rice.