Not your Nonna's pasta primavera! (Welcome, Spring!)

So, this won't be your Nonna's pasta primavera, and in fact, it probably won't seem like anything you're used to. But, I promise, you'll make this over and over again! 

Pasta Primavera (makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1lb Linguine

4 oz Pancetta

3 shrimp per person, no shells, cut into halves

1/4 C good olive oil

1/2 C Fava beans or Edamame, frozen  (Edamame are preferred by some)

2 T pesto

1 C Cream, Milk, or Almond Milk

1 C of the boiling pasta water

Fresh Veggies, all diced the same size:

1 Zucchini

1 Yellow squash

1/2 Green Pepper

1/2 Red Pepper

1/4 Onion or 3 Green Onions

1 C Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, halved

Process:

1. Start the water boiling with enough kosher salt to kill a horse, or at least make the water taste like the ocean. Once it's boiling, drop the pasta for 10 - 11 minutes.
1. Heat a large pot with a heavy bottom on medium-high heat, and add the olive oil and pancetta. Cook for 3 minutes.                                                                                
2. Add all the vegetables, lower the heat to medium and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. 
   
   
   
3. Add pesto and cream, and stir to blend. Cook for 2 minutes.
   
   
   
4. Add one ladle-full (1 C) of the boiling pasta water to the primavera veggies and sauce.
5. Add the shrimp, and stir. Reduce heat to low.
6. When the linguine is cooked al dente, drain.
7. Add to the pot with the primavera veggies and sauce and toss.
8.  Portion, top with freshly crumbled or grated parmesan
   

   
   
   
   
   

   
   

   
   Hello from Michael's Little Slice of the American Dream! More videos to come!
   
   
   

Blackberry - Chipotle BBQ Turkey Breasts

Alright, if you made the blackberry sauce for the blackberry lemonade, then you're half-way to the BBQ sauce we're about to make! Trust me when I say, we're about to cook something so tasty, and fork tender, and perfect for sitting outside to eat!

Perfect for sitting outside in the shade... sooooo tender!

I am still keeping with a couple recurring themes of being efficient and cooking one day for the week, and eating very healthy. First, I try to cook as much as I can for the week simultaneously. If I'm going to grill something, why not grill several things, even if I don't use them that day. They keep just fine in the fridge! Secondly, I'm striving always to bring maximum flavor and uniqueness to healthy eating without breaking the bank, making it difficult, nor passing up on the foods we all love to have!
So, with this recipe we're going to tackle BBQ only instead of chicken, (although I used some chicken too!), we're going to smoke them a bit along with some sliced portabello mushrooms (used later in the week for my ramen bowl! Stay tuned), grill our veggies, and and just get it all done at once!

This does take a little forethought. I preferred to have a bit of smoke to this, so I soaked some pecan chips in water for a couple hours prior to putting on the grill. Drain the water out before you put them on a hot grill, in the aluminum tray or a smoking tray (if your grill has one).

BBQ and Lightly Smoked Turkey Breasts with Grilled Zucchini and Portabello Mushrooms

BBQ Sauce:

• 4 T        Blackberry puree
• 2 T        Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
• 2 T        Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 t         Hot Sauce (Tapatio, Frank's Red Hot)
• 1-1/2 T  Ketchup
• 1/3 C     Water
• 1 T         Salt
• 1-1/2 t    Pepper

Mix well in a bowl, split into two bowl and a cruet or gravy boat for serving BBQ sauce on the plates.

GRILLING:

1. Put smoking tray on a hot grill for about 10 minutes prior to grilling food.
2. Have any veggies you'd like to grill already cut, and set handy on a separate (from the meat) plate/pan/tray, to avoid contaminating the veggies. I used zucchini spears, sprayed with a little cooking spray, sprinkled with oregano and lemon juice.
3. Place turkey or chicken on the grill, and immediately baste with some of the BBQ sauce from one of the bowls.
4. Close the lid down, and leave for 10 minutes.
5. Turn turkey or chicken, and baste.
6. Put veggies on the grill now, and put the portabello mushrooms on a rack above (if available) or very near the smoking chips.
7. 
8. Close the lid for 12 minutes.
9. Turn the vegetables, and remove the turkey or chicken to a plate, and cover loosely with foil.
10. Leave the vegetables on the grill for 5 more minutes, then remove from the grill.
11. Slice the turkey or chicken and serve with extra BBQ sauce.

I promise, everyone will enjoy this! Enjoy everyone!  - Michael!

Start summer off right with Blackberry Lemonade, then...

So, in the South it's summer already, with temperatures skyrocketing into the 80's daily. ALREADY! With that in mind, there's nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day, after mowing the lawn especially, than a glass of freshly made lemonade. Except, maybe...

Mmmm...

When living in Seattle, a friend of mine  got hooked on trying new flavors of lemonade - strawberry, raspberry, blueberry were usually early in the season when she would go picking them at a local farm. But, in late summer, the blackberries grew HUGE on the side of our house. We'd wait for them to get to the point that they were nearly falling off the vines, and PLUCK 'EM! Mah-gawd...

I recently saw some blackberries in the local grocery and said, "yep. It's time." So, I'm going to share with you my blackberry sauce recipe, which can be used here to make some blackberry lemonade, and then as well in a blackberry and Chipotle bbq grilling sauce, than can also be used as a pan sauce at the end (that's in the NEXT installment/recipe!)

And, if you're really adventurous... on a hot afternoon when you finished all your chores... why not a little somfin'-somfin' extra in that lemonade?

Highly recommended!

BLACKBERRY PUREE SAUCE RECIPE:

• 2 Pints of blackberries
• 6 packets of Stevia sweetener
• 1/2 C of water

1. Place all ingredients into a sauce pan, bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes

2. 

   Between low and medium heat on this pan, otherwise they will overflow!

3. 
   
4. Mash them with a potato masher, and return to the heat for another 5 minutes.
5. Let sit in the pan off the heat and cool, for about 15 minutes.
6. You can reduce these in a couple ways, in a blender or a food processor, crush these for about a minute. 
7. Finally, put a glass bowl on the counter, with a fine mesh strainer (sieve) over top of the bowl. Pour the blackberry reduction into the strainer and use a silicone/plastic spatula to mash this through the strainer. Every now and then, scrape the bottom of the strainer, into the bowl. Wrap or place into a storage container for future use.

BLACKBERRY LEMONADE RECIPE:

• 1/2 C of blackberry puree you just created above
• 1 C fresh lemon juice
• 2 C water
• Ice

1. In a tall 2 QT pitcher, mix together the first three ingredients.
2. After blended, add ice to bring the liquid to the top of the pitcher, and let sit a few minutes.
3. If you enjoy it, add a shot of moonshine to each glass!
4. If it's not sweet enough, add a spoonful of the blackberry puree to each glass and stir!

Healthier eating for summer weather - Greens + Grains Bowls - Options are ENDLESS!

Greens + Grains Bowls - Options are ENDLESS!

Hello All! It's been a minute, I realize! I wanted to start things off on a good note, and am posting something I believe is so good for you, and so tasty! Especially since summer is right around the corner. We get busier, we want to sit out in the sun and have a light meal, maybe we work out at lunch time and want to return to our desks with something not too heavy! All of those are ME for sure! Most importantly, I'm going to lay out a system for you here, so you can make not just one, but many for the week, and have them at your finger tips. This is going to seem long, but honestly, if you do all your prep at once, you'll have enough to simply scoop and create your greens + grains bowl in a minute and be done! And, as long as you keep your ingredients separated, they will likely stay crunchy and fresh all week.

So, having now moved to The 704, and being a foodie, working with foodies, we get out A LOT. And, two places have had me wanting - no CRAVING, their food at home - Cava, and Yafo. Both are Mediterranean style "create your own" bowls, some with greens and/or grains (like we're going to do here), and then a host of different sauces and toppings, which we'll also go into. You also have a choice of your proteins, from falafel, chicken, beef, pork and even lamb (tasty, but so fatty!). What we're going to focus on here today is chicken, which I'll give you two ways to prepare on the grill - lemon and oregano (Greek inspired!), and balsamic and honey (Italian inspired). You could use tuna fish, tofu, garbonzos, or even sliced grilled tuna for your protein, but choose wisely!  Choose HEALTHY!

GREEN INGREDIENTS:

I picked the following, which can all be chopped/sliced/prepped into separate containers for future bowl building. 

• Arugala
• Mixed greens with spinach
• Cucumber (thinly sliced or chopped)
• Red onion
• Red and Orange peppers (chopped or thinly sliced
• Red Cabbage (shredded)
• Feta cheese crumbles (go easy! 1 T per bowl)
• Hummus (go easy! 1 heaping T per bowl)
• Cilantro (chopped)
• Italian curley parsley (chopped)

Optionals:

• Dried cranberries
• Dried cherries
• Harissa
• Grilled peppers
• Grilled red onions
• Mint - cilantro - grilled jalapeno chutney
• Olives (Spanish, or Kalamata)
• Tzatziki sauce

GRAINS:

I picked a couple easy ones to cook, that give you a chewy-ness, something different and not ho-hum by any means, and definitely healthy!

Farro:

• 1 C Farro
• 2 C Water
• 1 t Better than Bullion, concentrated chicken broth
• 1/2 t Salt

1. Bring the water, chicken broth and salt to a boil. 
2. Add the farro, cover and set for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, and cook for another 4-5 minutes, until tender but chewy and the water is nearly gone. Set aside to cool.

Quinoa:

• 1 C Quinoa
• 2 C Water
• 1 t Better than Bullion, concentrated chicken broth
• 1/2 t Salt

1. Bring the water, chicken broth and salt to a boil. 
2. Add the quinoa, cover and set for 15 minutes.
3. Remove the lid, and set aside to cool.

PROTEINS:

I used chicken for this - something simple, high protein, and easy to cook that could be done while the above grains are cooking. In fact, I cooked the chicken, and washed the grill pan by the time the farro was done. (Just sayin'!)

Next, let's talk marinades, which you can put your chicken breasts or boneless skinless thighs into for about 4 - 6 hours and they'll be flavorful:

Greek inspired:

• 1/2 C Lemon juice
• 1/4 C olive oil
• 2 T oregano, crushed
• 1 t garlic powder (or four cloves of crushed fresh garlic!)
• 1 t onion powder

Italian inspired:

• 1/2 + 1/8 C Balsamic vinegar
• 2 T honey
• 1/8 C olive oil 
• 1 t garlic powder (or four cloves of crushed fresh garlic!)
• 1 t onion powder

Grill the chicken on a hot grill pan or on the BBQ grill for about 3 minutes per side, max. Pull them off, and cover lightly. They will continue to carry over cook and will be fine

Love my grill pan!

ASSEMBLY:

So, here's the thing- there's really no wrong way to do this! Put some greens in the bottom of the bowl, maybe some shredded cabbage, carrots, diced cucumber and red onion salad with Italian parsley (simply chop all ingredients, marinate in red wine vinegar for 10 minutes with a touch of salt; only make enough for one serving as it won't keep), cilantro, parsley, then some grains (maybe a 1/4 cup of each), maybe a couple tablespoons of beans (especially garbanzos or cannelloni beans), a drop of humus on the side, maybe some walnuts, or slivered almonds, maybe a couple slices of hard boiled egg? Then, slice some chicken (or other protein) and lay that on top!

Now, you can get creative and add artichoke hearts, beet salad, other things, but let's keep this simple for now!

Top this with a light vinaigrette, or simply with lemon juice, salt and pepper, and I promise, you will not be disappointed! 

Let me know what you think of this!

Soon! Very soon!

Soooo... New dream kitchen, new camera with video capabilities, new spirit, new life.

New posts hopefully as August comes to a close, as summer is so busy.

But I'm experimenting with some new recipes, like this blackened salmon Alfredo primavera with wilted arugula and basil (from my window sill)!!!

BADA BING BABY!!!!!

A new Dawn has risen...

Stay tuned folks! I now have my "dream kitchen," and am excited to share with you some new flavors (like the Thai green curry chicken with lemon, ginger and cilantro rice!), a new adventure!

Time to experiment with some lighting to help me get better photos, some videos, and some kitchen hacks and failures to share! 

Eat, and be happy! - Michael

I know... get past the soups, man!

So, I'm posting another soup- mainly because the dessert I wanted to post last week well- it didn't turn out! Experiments sometimes... oh... what's the word? FAIL? Sure.. we'll say it! It was supposed to be a faux ice cream made from mashed up bananas, and I had some fresh Washington cherries, some chocolate. Was aiming for a banana version of Cherry Garcia got brown, and froze too hard to be able to get out of the plastic container... I'll research some other methods, I'll figure something out.

I'm trying to stay slender, but build muscle,  especially now that I've started PaSaRyu karate! (Dream to start since I was a kid!) So, other than salads, I've mainly been cooking pots of soups- something for my lunches at work, filling, healthy. One soup I LOVE, absolutely love, is split pea with ham and bacon. While it's really a winter soup, I went ahead to make some anyway because I know it's full of protein, veggies, and, well- it does have BACON, right??? But in this case, in order to make it a little healthier, I used bacon I've already cooked. This cuts down on the oil/fat and salt in the overall recipe, of which there's plenty from the smoked ham hocks!. Additionally, I only used a cup of chicken stock (homemade) and 5 cups of water- again, some flavor, less salt and fewer calories. Save a few calories, and there.

So, while you may not think it's a good summer dish, keep this on hand for fall and winter then! I won't be offended! But, just give it a try, I think you'll be surprised.

Split Pea Soup with Ham and Bacon

Ingredients:

• 2 C each of chopped celery, onion and carrots
• 2 slices of cooked bacon, chopped
• 2 smoked ham hocks
• 1 lb of split peas
• 1 - 2 C of chicken stock or broth
• 4 - 5 C of water
• 1 t Worchestershire Sauce
• 1-1/2 T of thyme
• 1 T pepper
• Salt to taste

1. Cook chopped bacon for about 2 minutes over medium high heat.  
2. Add celery, onion, carrot, thyme, and sweat just until the onions become translucent on the edges- about 4 minutes.
3. 

        4. Remove veggies from pot into a large bowl, and set aside. 

        5. Add chicken stock or broth, water, and ham hocks and bring to a low boil.

        6. Add split peas to the pot.

      7. Reduce heat to a strong simmer, and allow to cook for 45 minutes. After that time, start to mash a majority of the peas against the side of the pot, making it more of a thicker, creamy texture, than watery.

       8. Return the veggies to the pot, and continue to cook for 6-10 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your carrots- but remember, you will likely reheat some of this! So, don't over cook the carrots!

      9. Start breaking up the ham hocks. You can competely remove them to do so, but remove some of the skin and fat, and definitely the large bones- it's all done its duty, made its sacrifice for the good of your belly!