Roasted Tomato Pesto with Chicken

There's nothing like the taste of fresh basil, parsley, and tomatoes when looking to bring a little taste of summer into those dreary winter nights. What better way to bring these together than with a nice, creamy pesto. Add a little "roast" to your tomato and you've got one savory summer sauce.

Ingredients

Roasted Tomatoes:

12 Roma tomatoes halved lengthwise
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Chicken:

1 lb chicken breast
fresh lemon juice
salt
pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Pesto:

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup parsley leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

1 lb pasta

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Place the tomato halves cut side up in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with the garlic, salt and pepper. Roast in oven for about two hours, or until they begin to caramelize. Let the tomatoes cool to room temperature.

While tomatoes cool, heat oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle chicken breasts with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Heat butter in casserole over medium high heat until foaming, and smother the chicken in the butter. Bake in oven until cooked through (about 6-10 minutes). When cooked, cut into 1-inch strips.

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a food processor, pulse basil, parsley, and pine nuts. Slowly pour in the olive oil. Add the Parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Add the roasted tomatoes to the pesto mixture and pulse.

Combine the roasted tomato pesto and chicken with the cooked pasta.

Farro & Winter Vegetables Recipe

I'm finding it hard to drag myself to the farmers market this Winter. It's cold, it's wet, it's sometimes muddy, and let's face it, it's not like I'm going to find luscious peaches, cherries or tomatoes. My haul last weekend consisted of baby cauliflower, Tuscan kale, French radishes, baby carrots, broccolini and sauerkraut. Healthy and delicious, but hardly anything to get excited over. Of course everything I bought was fresher and possibly a bit tastier than what I could have found in the supermarket. The baby carrots I bought were real baby carrots, and not those fake machine rounded carrot nubs you find in little bags. Not quite as sweet as strawberries, but pretty darn tasty when roasted.

When I was shopping a dish started to come together in my mind, and the centerpiece was farro. Farro is often mistaken for spelt, it's actually "emmer wheat" and is rich in fiber, protein, and magnesium. Farro is just the Italian name for emmer wheat. The only time I ate farro in Italy was in Cetara along the Amalfi coast. It was served in a soup. Online I see lots of recipes for farro salad served cold, but I prefer it hot. It has a nice chewy texture that's very satisfying, but it's a little bland. The way to overcome that is to add lots of great flavors, colors and other textures to make a hearty and exciting main dish. I layer the flavors, adding a base of greens to the farro and then I top it with roasted vegetables. Farro is very easy to cook and very forgiving, just don't overcook it. I used semi-pearled farro from Roland that cooks in a mere 20 minutes.

The first time I made this dish I used loads of mushrooms. It was good, but somehow using mushrooms feels a bit like cheating when you're making a vegan meal. This version uses a mixture of "melted" kale cooked with onions, garlic and wine to add flavor to the farro. The toasted walnuts are really important, they add a crisp crunch and some great nutritional benefits as well. This dish is vegan and yet I promise you won't miss the meat one bit. Or the cheese. Or even the mushrooms!

This recipe is as flexible as can be. Change things up to suit your taste and the ingredients you have on hand. When it comes to the roasted vegetables you could swap out the broccolini and carrots for roasted baby turnips, brussels sprouts, parsnips or even baby leeks. Using two different vegetables adds nice variety and contrast, but you could use 3 or 4 vegetables too if you prefer. In place of the kale you could use any green you like such as spinach, savoy cabbage or chard. If you don't want to use wine, I think you could use a lesser amount of red wine or balsamic vinegar instead, or even lemon juice. Since vegetables are the main event, just be sure to use the tastiest, freshest ones you can find.

Note: if you can't find baby carrots just cut regular carrots into thin strips no more than 1/3 inch thick.

Farro & Winter Vegetablesserves 4

Ingredients

1 cup semi-pearled farro
1 bunch Tuscan kale chopped (stems trimmed off)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoon olive oil
1/3 cup red wine
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
16 broccolini stems
12 baby carrots (real baby carrots not bags of rounded nubs)
Olive oil for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Simmer farro in 2 cups water in an partially covered medium saucepan over medium heat until cooked through but still al dente, about 20 minutes. Don't worry if there is a little water left in the pan when it's cooked.

Slice the carrots in half lengthwise. Place carrots and broccolini evenly on a baking sheet (I line mine with parchment). Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and roast until beginning to brown, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile heat a large skillet over medium heat, add oil then the onions and garlic, sprinkle with kosher salt and cook until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the chopped kale and 1/2 cup water, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until wilted. Remove lid and add the red wine and cook without the cover until almost, but not quite dry. Combine kale with farro and stir in the walnuts, season to taste with salt and pepper, and top with roasted vegetables.

Enjoy!

Sunday Morning

There is nothing better than waking up to a luxurious breakfast, the kind of breakfast that you need time for - time for making, time for eating, and time for slowly but happily digesting. This Sunday Morning breakfast has a layer of spiced and sauteed potatoes, topped with melted cheese, topped with strips of bacon, and topped again with fried eggs.  Just cutting into and serving this meal is a delight.

Ingredients
4 slices of bacon
1 1/2 lbs potatoes, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
2 scallions, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup fresh parsley
½ teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon sage
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese
salt
pepper
paprika
3 eggs

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fry up the bacon and then set aside. Heat olive oil over medium high heat and sauté the potatoes with the onions, shallot, scallions, and garlic. Mix in parsley, thyme, oregano, sage, and bay leaves, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes become crispy. Place potatoes in an oven-proof pan and sprinkle cheese over the potatoes. Bake the potatoes until cheese is nice and melted, about ten minutes. Meanwhile, fry the eggs and season with pepper, salt, and paprika. Place strips of bacon side by side on top of the potatoes, and then set the fried eggs on top of the bacon. Then, of course, dig in!

Garlic Parmesan Tortellini Soup

Growing up, I would bug my mom constantly to make her tortellini soup. Cheesy stuffed pasta in a garlicky broth of cream and herbs - what could be better? This is my take on her household classic...

Ingredients
3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons butter
32 oz chicken broth
8 ounces cheese-filled tortellini pasta
salt
pepper
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
3 tablespoons chopped basil
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions
Sauté celery, onion, and garlic in melted butter over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Toss in the chopped herbs, salt, pepper, and tortellini, and cook for 3 minutes or until pasta is tender. Add heavy cream and heat through. Take off heat and stir in parmesan cheese.

Banana Matcha Muffins

Banana muffins are super easy to make. I just love the way the banana combines with the green tea to form this soft and luscious green delight.

Ingredients
4 bananas, mashed
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1/8 cup matcha (powdered green tea)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffin tins or line with muffin liners. Mix together mashed bananas, brown sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in flour, matcha, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Chai Latte

The weather has been rainy and chilly the past few days here in Southern California. This weather makes me want to curl up on the couch with a book, a blanket, and a mug filled with a warm drink. But what type of warm drink? Nothing sounded good enough, until I thought about chai. This chai latte recipe, with its smooth almond undertone and spicy and fragrant tea, is the perfect antidote to the cold-weather blues.

Ingredients
1 quart whole milk
1 teaspoon of toasted and ground almonds
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/8 teaspoon cardamom, divided
3 cinnamon sticks, divided
1 cup water
8 whole cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 peppercorns
1/2 of the peel of an orange
1/4 cup sugar
4 teabags

Instructions
Gently simmer milk, almonds, vanilla extract, 1/8 teaspoon cardamom, and a cinnamon stick in a saucepan for an hour. In another saucepan, bring the water, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, peppercorn, orange peel, and teabags to a boil. Let it boil for 5 minutes. Add sugar and the spiced milk and return to a boil. Serve in mugs and garnish with more cinnamon sticks.

Brigadeiros

These chocolatey, almost caramel-like candies rolled in sprinkles are a fun and playful snack. They are also super easy to make, so they are great treats when you are short on time!

Ingredients
3 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons margarine
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
chocolate sprinkles

Instructions
Combine cocoa powder, butter, salt and condensed milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring continuously, until mixture has thickened and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until cool enough to handle. Spray some cooking spray on hands and form into small balls. Coat with chocolate sprinkles.