garden to table challenge - BASIL

photo taken May 2012

The first food to come out of my garden (in any significant quantities) is basil.  Last summer I fell in love with basil, and it was one of the first things I 'knew' I wanted to plant at my new house.  Since I don't have enough sun to have the bountiful crop I had last summer, I'm compensating with quantity.  I have planted 7 basil plants so far, and I'm thinking about adding more.  Last summer I discovered how easy basil is to freeze, and I would love to have a few full good sized freezer bags full to last me through the winter next year.

My first use of my basil is this simple, summer, go to pasta dish.  There are no measurements; it's up to your taste and the number of people you are serving...this is one you really can't mess up.

Ingredients:
Cooked Pasta, drained
Fresh Basil, chopped
Garlic, chopped
Sun Dried tomatoes
Olive oil (I use olive oil infused with Alchemy Spice Italian seasoning)
Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Feta cheese, crumbled
Salt, optional when using feta


Instructions:

• In the same dish you cooked the pasta in: drizzle olive oil, and add fresh basil, garlic, salt, Parmesan Cheese, and sun dried tomatoes.  
• Mix everything together, cover, and let sit for 3-5 minutes.  (If you have an electric stove, I usually do this on the burner I cooked the pasta on, but with the burner turned off.  This little bit of heat is great, but doesn't scorch the pasta or melt the cheese)  
• Uncover the pasta, mix in some feta, and serve.

I love this because it's quick, tasty, and only uses one dish.  Since I'm washing dishes by hand, every little bit helps.

I hope you enjoy this simple, early summer pasta!  For more in-season recipes visit Greenish Thumb's Garden to Table Challenge

Tomatoes & Basil

I don't have much of a garden on my 4'x6' patio (have I mentioned it's tiny before?) but I do have tomatoes and basil for DAYS! Here's a list of what I've done with it all so far:

1. Freeze dried basil - Whole basil leaves in ziplock bags in the freezer, when its frozen, you can crunch it up rather than cutting by hand. I use this stuff for seriously everything.
2. Simple 15 minute sauce - olive oil, garlic, chopped tomato, basil & a little butter (for flavor). Its a light marinara, I love me some olive oil. You can add vodka & chopped onion to make a thicker, creamier vodka sauce
3. Bowie Pasta w/sliced cherry tomato, basil, artichoke & Parmesan. Sauce cooks for 5 minutes tops, & the tomatoes hold their shape.
4. Frozen pizza topped w fresh basil, sliced cherry tomato & garlic
5. Tomato sandwiches on local baked bread
6. Tomato mozzarella salad (sliced cherry tomato or dices full size)
   
7. Pasta salad w/fresh tomatoes
8. Guacamole w/fresh tomatoes
9. Slow cooked pasta sauce w/onion, bell pepper, garlic, basil, red wine (pork chop) This you can cook until the pork chop falls off the bone.
   

Some things I want to try:

1. Pesto
2. Homemade tomato juice for Bloody Mary's
3. Salsa
   
4. Large Batch Pasta sauce. If I was really cool, I'd can it. But I'm not there yet.
   

This is what is still growing! I'm going to have Tomatoes for DAYS!!

Editor's Note: I forgot to include that this post falls in the category of GTTC (Garden To Table Challange) over at Greenish Thumb! Love this series :)

In My Kitchen

I'm not a chef, but I like to play around in the kitchen. I like to try recipes and ingredients when I'm entertaining and/or have time on my hands. But honestly, a lot of the time I stick to a few staples. One of my 'go to' dinners is pre-marinated baked chicken.


When I catch chicken on sale, I grab a family pack. When I get home I put individual portions in freezer bags with a marinade. Sometimes I make my own, sometimes store bought. I always try to do a couple different ones, so I've got choices depending on my mood. I toss them in the freezer and I'm done. (you can let them sit overnight in the fridge first if you want) When I'm feeling like chicken, I'll just move one down to the fridge on the way to work, and as it defrosts, it starts marinating. By the time I'm home, I throw it in the oven, and I'm well on my way to dinner.

Easy-peasy

Today I did drumsticks. A few plain, some Honey BBQ, Lemon Pepper, Sweet & Sour, and Greek. I have chicken for over a month.

Simple & Tasty

I was browsing through the BEAUTIFUL garden's showcased by Carol at May Dreams Gardens after dinner tonight, and I found Wendy at Greenish Thumb and her Garden to Table Challenge. Since I happened to make a quick dinner tonight using basil from my patio. I thought I'd jump in and share. You'll have to forgive me though - found Wendy's blog after dinner, so the only pictures I have are the basil pictures I proudly texted a friend tonight!

Call me silly, but I was really excited when I was told I could freeze dry herbs in ice cube trays.


I snapped a few freshly frozen leaves, and let them simmer with petite diced tomatoes & garlic for about 20 minutes.

I used this as a topping for shell pasta lightly tossed in Alfredo sauce. Simple & Tasty!

Strawberry Stuff

Food is a favorite topic of mine. This is a recipe is such a favorite, that I am reciting this recipe from scratch. It's that good. This is usually a summertime recipe, but it's the right colors for this Valentines Day weekend, and again, it's that good. The best part - it's easy to make. So if you're planning on going all out on dinner for someone this weekend, safe yourself some stress over dessert and give this recipe a try. My Valentines gift to you. Or, there are always Heart shaped Little Debbie's :)

Grocery List:
1 tub cool whip
1 Sara Lee pound cake from the freezer section
1 package frozen strawberries
1 package vanilla Jello Pudding (plus whatever it takes to make pudding)
1 package strawberry Jello (the smaller package is ok)

Instructions:
1. defrost strawberries & mix with DRY strawberry jello packet
2 follow instructions for making vanilla jello pudding bu do not chill
3. cut pound cake into 1" cubes
4. place 1/2 of pound cake cubes in a medium to large size bowl (clear works best for presentation)
5. layer strawberry mix over the pound cake
6. layer remaining pound cake over strawberries
7. pour vanilla pudding over top of pound cake
8. top with cool-whip
9. chill according to jello pudding instructions

Done!