vegetarian | The Foodies' Kitchen

Pasta with Spinach Pesto & Peas

Recently, I was in the mood for pasta. Particularly the flat and wide variety such as reginette. I found some at the store, so all I had to find next was a recipe for a tasty sauce. I was planning to serve this to my family for lunch, so plain old tomato sauce was not going to cut it, especially for Mariano.
I scanned my usual food blogs and food sites and I came across this recipe which seemed like the perfect way to sneak in some greens. Plus, I had never tasted pesto made out of spinach before so it was the perfect opportunity to taste something new.

I didn’t have all the ingredients at home, so I was quite liberal about substituting ingredients, and also adding some. In fact, I just used the recipe as an idea. (You can click the link below to see the original recipe.) If you get left over pesto, you can use on sandwiches!

Helga

Pasta with Spinach Pesto & Peas

Adapted from The Kitchn

Spinach Pesto:
makes about 2 cups

Ingredients
3 ounces of cream cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled with root end trimmed off
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup almonds
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
10-12 ounces of spinach, washed and spun dry
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

Add the cheese, garlic, olive oil, almonds and lemon juice to the bowl of a food processor and mix until combined. Add the spinach and run the food processor until the mixture has formed a thick paste. If the spinach won’t fit all at once, add it in batches. Taste for seasonings, adding salt, pepper, and lemon juice as needed.

Pasta with Spinach Pesto & Peas
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound reginette pasta (or your pasta shape of choice!)
1/2 cup pasta water (don’t skip this!)
1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup peas (cooked)
1/2 cup spinach pesto (more as needed)
grated Parmesan for sprinkling on top

Bring a large amount of water to a rapid boil, add a palm-full of salt, and cook the pasta to al dente. (follow the package’s instructions.) Before draining the pasta, scoop out about a half cup of the pasta cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the peas and toss until warmed through–about 30 seconds.
Add the pasta to the skillet and pour the pesto on top. Toss to combine everything. If the sauce is looking a little “loose” or you’d like it a bit creamier, add a splash (just a splash!) of the pasta water. Stir and add more pasta water if desired.
Taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Note: You may add shredded bits of chicken breast.

10:37 AM
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- Pasta, Peas, pesto, Spinach, vegetable, vegetarian
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Corn Soup

I tried this recipe as an alternative to serve corn. I liked that it required few ingredients and that the procedure was so easy, it is perfect for my busy weekday cooking. This recipe is enough for 8 servings, you can easily divide the recipe to suit your quantity needs, or you can freeze half of it for another day. It keeps for up to 6 months!

If you would like to know about the health benefits of corn, go to our published post here. You ‘ll find interesting information as well as a round up of some our recipes containing corn.

Corn Soup

Recipe Adapted from
Martha Stewart
Serves 8

Ingredients

16 ears yellow corn
4 tablespoons butter, (cut into small pieces)
1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
Tortilla chips, (optional)
Lime wedges, (optional)
Scallions, sliced, (optional)

Procedure:

Remove husks and silks from corn. Holding ears in a large bowl, slice off kernels (to yield about 10 cups). When slicing corn from cobs, work in a deep bowl to catch the kernels and any juices. In two batches, puree kernels and accumulated juices with a total of 2 cups water until chunky.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook pureed corn, butter, 4 cups water, paprika, pepper, sugar and salt until butter is melted and soup is heated through, 5 minutes.
Serve hot, garnished with tortilla chips, lime wedges, and sliced scallions, as desired.

Sun-Dried Tomato, Arugula and Fresh Cheese Mini Pitas

Sometimes, you just want something quick to eat. Like a sandwich. This little invention has few ingredients, but a lot of flavor. I found these mini pita breads at the store, but you can use regular ones. The key to this sandwich are the sun-dried tomatoes, those little pruney guys are packed with flavor! I also added some grilled eggplant to give it a little extra bite. (If you have some pesto around, adding some would be a good idea.)
Hey, it’s better than ham and cheese!

Sun-Dried Tomato, Arugula and Fresh Cheese Mini Pitas

(I couldn’t come up with a better name)

A The Foodies’ Kitchen Recipe
Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 mini pitas
1 small eggplant, sliced
olive oil
A few arugula leaves
Farmer’s cheese (Queso Fresco)
8 sun dried tomatoes
Cream cheese
salt and pepper,to taste

Procedure:

Slice your mini pita breads open.
Using your electric griller, cook eggplant that has been previously drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Place a couple of arugula leaves on the bottom, top with farmer’s cheese slices. Just enough to cover the bread. You can add a little or a lot of sun dried tomatoes. I prefer to add a lot, so I slice them and put enough of them to cover the area. Add the grilled eggplant. Season with salt and pepper.
Spread cream cheese (and/or pesto) on your mini pitas’ stop slices, cover up your sandwiches and enjoy!