There’s nothing better than working away in the kitchen all day and serving a meal to appreciative guests, right? In my book, there is actually something way better, whipping together something easy and fast and still getting all those compliments. I always keep a couple of my secret weapons on hand, those key ingredients that give my dishes a little bit of that secret something.
I’ve acquired some favorites over the years and pesto, in many forms and iterations is one of them. Basically pesto is a simple trio of ingredients blended together with olive oil. Traditionally the base is basil, coupled with parmesan cheese and pine nuts. There are dozens of variations; mushroom, olive, sundried tomato, radicchio, to name a few. Here I’m sharing my recipe for Arugula Pesto, which is a fabulous way to get a little taste of summer on your table during the winter. Big boxes of Baby Arugula are available at almost every grocery store year round, and if you splurge a little on some good quality parmesan, this can actually make quite an inexpensive meal.
Ingredients
1 large box Baby Arugula (450gr)
1 cup shelled walnuts
½ cup parmesan cheese
½ cup olive oil
2 cloves fresh garlic
juice of ½ lemon
1 tsp honey
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
Directions
Toast walnuts over medium heat until lightly browned and toasted.
Combine all ingredients (including walnuts) in a food processor or blender. Blend until all ingredients combined.
Can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 2 months.
No matter which vegetable skeptic I have sitting at my dinner table, this is the dish that wins them over. Whenever I make this salad, there is never any left. I’ve even had a notorious ‘meat and potatoes only’ guest help themselves to multiple servings of this salad only to declare it a salad that tastes like a meal.
The key is in the dressing. It’s my version of a Caesar salad dressing with big bold flavors that make you want to eat it with a spoon. The homemade croutons and bits of pancetta take it over the top. I like to make a big batch and keep it in the fridge so I have it handy for the week. Once you make it you’ll see it wont last that long.
Ingredients
2 heads romaine lettuce
1 package pancetta bits (feel free to use bacon)
1 french stick
1 tbsp olive oil
Dressing
2 tbsps good quality Dijon mustard
2-3 cloves garlic
4-5 good quality whole anchovies
½ cup olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 tsp honey
Blend all ingredients for the dressing with a hand blender or mini blender and set aside. Dressing is done!
Wash and chop lettuce.
Prepare pancetta pieces by cooking over low heat in a skillet until fat is rendered and pancetta pieces are cooked through and a little crispy, similar to big bacon bits.
To make croutons, rip French stick into rough chunks. Toss in olive oil. Broil on all sides until browned.
Assemble salad. Toss together croutons, pancetta bits and lettuce. Top with dressing right before serving.
Enjoy!
This is one of my favorites. A little sweet and a little sour, it’s a great way to jazz up a plain piece of chicken and you can get it on the table in under 20 minutes! Serve a salad and some rice on the side, and you have a quick and yummy weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
Directions
Butterfly chicken breasts so they are all approximately the same thickness. This will ensure your chicken cooks evenly and quickly.
Season on either side with salt, pepper, paprika and Italian seasoning.
Heat a skillet with olive oil on high.
Sear both sides of breasts on high heat. Start with one side until browned, turn over and then wait until under side is browned, approximately 3 minutes per side.
Once both sides are browned, lower heat to low and add white wine (or your other liquid of choice, broth, beer,etc). Immediately cover with a lid while wine steams away, for about 3 minutes.
Turn heat off and remove chicken breast from the pan.
Add butter, honey and lemon. Mix until butter melts.
Add parsley and pour over chicken immediately.
Serve.
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