Spinach & Mushroom Stuffed Chicken

So this recipe was inspired by one of my friends and old roommates, and I decided to try it out on some guinea pigs, aka Kirk and Linda :) Again, I didn't really work from a recipe but used my knowledge of how long chicken typically takes to cook and estimated everything! What you need:

-Spinach
-Mushrooms
-Cream Cheese (or Philadelphia Cooking Creme)
-Chicken Breasts
-Toothpicks!

We started out by butterflying the chicken breasts, or just cutting a pocket since some were a little on the small side. After doing this, I thought it might have been better to flatten out the chicken first so they would lay flat, but that's how you learn, right!?


In a mixing bowl, we mixed together some spinach with approximately half of the Cooking Creme-we used savory garlic, but regular cream cheese would probably work fine too :)


After mixing those two ingredients together, we chopped up some mushrooms and put them in the mix as well.


After mixing everything together, we divided it into three portions, one for each chicken breast. Then, I strategically stuffed each one with the mixture and sealed it with toothpicks. This part was probably the trickiest seeing as I've never done anything like this before! :D


We wrapped each one individually in foil to make sure nothing leaked out, and baked them for 15 minutes in the oven on 375. After the 15 minutes was up, I took them out and put on some seasonings and such and turned them over. Put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes. Once the 2nd 15 minutes is up, decided to open the foil and put them under the broiler/500 degrees for 5 minutes to brown the tops for your aesthetic pleasure ;)

The final product!

We paired it with some herb linguine which was very tasty and a cucumber, tomato, green onion and green pepper medley :) Let me know if you try it, or if you have any other types of stuffing that might be yummy!

Brown rice risotto with porcini mushrooms

Hi family! Thanks, Becca, for reminding us to be posting! I really want to get back into posting too. I forgot how much fun it is! I usually make several meals a week, I just have to remember to take photos! Last night I made a delicious risotto I wanted to share with you....

Background: I've been trying to switch us to using only brown rice. While I can throw a bowl of white rice in the microwave and have it done in a half hour without thinking, for some reason brown rice has given me a lot of trouble. In the microwave it always boils over and is never cooked through. On the stove it gets super sticky and makes a huge mess, and is sort of crunchy. I thought maybe trying it in risotto would be the key!

I found a couple brown rice risotto recipes online, and combined 2 of them. The trick is to boil the rice for about 20 minutes, drain, and then add your aromatics and broth like you would in a normal risotto recipe. Here's the ingredients and step by step:

• 1 1/4 C. brown rice
• 3 C. water
• 1 1/2 - 2 C. chicken stock
• parmesean cheese
• 1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp. water
  
• onions, garlic, mushrooms, etc. - whatever you want in your risotto!

First, bring rice and water to a boil. (You can toast the rice first for a few minutes, then add the water) Once it boils, turn the heat down and simmer for 18-20 minutes, or until rice is getting soft.

While the rice is boiling, start sauteing your add-ins. Normally you would do this and then add the risotto, but this is different! I started with olive oil, garlic & onions, and some porcini mushrooms. I also had some fresh thyme leaves, which made this AWESOME.


(I may have also added some butter....shhhh)

Don't forget salt and pepper!

The veggies got done before the rice was ready, so I added some white wine to coat the bottom and prevent anything from burning. It added a really nice flavor and I'd totally do it again.

Once the rice is almost al dente, strain out the excess liquid (there won't be much), and add the veggies. Add about 1 cup of your broth, and stir. Let simmer until liquid is absorbed and then add another half cup of broth, repeating until broth is gone (or rice is done as you like it). You can heat the broth if you want - I just stuck it in the microwave for a few minutes so it wasn't cold.

Once the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed, add in your cornstarch/water mixture - this thickens it slightly and makes it more like an arborio rice risotto. Then check seasonings, grate in a TON of parmesean cheese, and maybe add some more butter.

And you're done!

And yes, that was the only picture I took. :( We were actually having a friend come over for dinner and I was rushing towards the end. But it turned out so well, I will definitely be making brown rice risotto again!! (plus brown rice is totally way cheaper than arborio rice)

Let me know if you try it, and if you have any more tips for risotto!

It's been a while...

Hi Momma and Sissies! So it has been TOO long since anyone has updated on here, and since I finally have some free time to cook and experiment in the kitchen, I thought I'd share with y'all what yummyness I had for dinner tonight :) I didn't remember to take pictures until after so there are only a few.

I call it: "Sherry Chicken and Mushrooms"

So I had a chicken breast that I needed to use up and was searching through the Grace cookbook for ideas, which is where I found my inspiration I guess you could say. (Yes, I said one chicken breast, that's what happens when you are cooking for one :D) Anyways, I cut the breast into three or four strips and dipped them in milk and then breaded them in a mixture of bread crumbs, rosemary and garlic, and parmesan cheese:



After covering the pieces in the breading, I sauteed the outside of the chicken in butter, and then put them in a greased baking pan. In the same pan I seared the chicken in, I sauteed mushrooms in butter and sherry cooking wine (delish, btw!). While the mushrooms were sauteing, I mixed together about 1/4 cup of the sherry and 1/4 cup of condensed cream of chicken soup and poured that over the chicken. I topped the chicken with the mushrooms once they were to my liking, and sprinkled some shredded monterrey jack cheese over top. Cover with tin foil, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. After the 30 min, remove the foil and cook for another 5 min.

Now all that's left to do is enjoy!!! The whole time it was cooking it smelled amazing, and I am extremely satisfied with the way it turned out--especially since I wasn't really going by a recipe. It was sooooo yummy. It will be my dinner for tomorrow :) I paired it with green beans and texas garlic toast, which was also tasty. Here's the finished product:


Any feedback/tips are welcomed....and if you make it let me know what you think! :)

No such thing as luck: Six Months Old

No such thing as luck: Six Months Old

Peanut Crusted Tilapea

We've had this meal twice, and it is one of our favorite ways to have fish now! I looked online to get some ideas, but in the end kind of made the recipe up myself.

First, I chopped up about 1/2 cup or so of peanuts. I used my Pampered Chef slap/chop type thing. Then I set up my station:

• A plate of flour with some pepper and a dash of salt
• A beaten egg in a bowl
• Plate of chopped nuts
• Cast iron skillet with some olive oil

 Pat the fish dry with a paper towel, cover in the flour mixture, dredge in egg, then coat with nuts. Here's what it looks like:

It browns up nicely...

We paired it with a nice salad and some roasted potatoes this night.

Also, I whipped up a peanut sauce to go on the fish. Again, I looked online to get some ideas for the recipe, but in the end just made it up based on taste. The basic ingredients were:

• peanut butter (about 1/2 cup)
• soy sauce (a few T.)
• lemon juice (1-2 T.)
• milk (1-2 T)
• ginger, garlic, salt, pepper (to taste)
• Cholula (for a little extra kick)

I might have also added a little rice wine vinegar, I can't remember now. Basically, just play with it until it tastes the way you want!

Salad, anyone???

Hi sissies and momma :) I wanted to ask y'all for some salad recipes that you've made and really liked. This saturday we're having a ladies night at church and each person is bringing a different type of salad and I have no idea what kind to bring! I figured I can use this as a way to kind of poll you all and hear back several different ideas. Thanks!!!!! Post away! :)

Pizza Casserole

I was going through my recipe box this morning and I came across this recipe I used to make when everyone was home.   I know you all are pizza fans, and, while it's not pizza, it certainly has a similar taste.  Served with a salad, it's a nice, easy meal that you can prepare ahead of time, or something you could make for a crowd (it is easy to double).  The recipe I will post is for about 4.

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teasp. garlic, chopped
1 teasp. oregano
1/2 teasp. salt
1 can tomato soup (or 14 oz. sauce)
1/3 cup water
2 cups cooked wide noodles
1/2 cup shredded cheese (any kind--you could use more if you want)

Brown ground beef with onion and seasonings, stirring to separate meat.  Add soup, water and cooked noodles.  Place in greased casserole dish and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Healthy Linguine with spinach, mushrooms, grape tomatoes and creamy lemon-yogurt sauce

Ok, I know you all aren't necessarily into "healthy" meals like this.  My main reason for posting it is that I actually made the noodles myself, and they weren't half bad.  See, Dad and I gave up eating pasta as a main dish a long time ago, but I really miss it sometimes.  So, this seemed like a good compromise...and it really did taste good, not wierd or unusual at all.  First, I'll give you the recipe for the above, then, I'll give you the noodle making low down.

8 oz whole-wheat (or other) linguine
1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup grated Parmesean cheese
1 teasp. grated lemon zest
1/4 teasp. salt
1/4 teasp. ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
6-8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
6-8 oz. baby spinach
2 cloves (or 2 teasp. minced) garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the linguine and cook about 9 min. or according to the package direction.  Drain the pasta and reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the yogurt, Parmesean, lemon zest and s & p.  Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and mushrooms and saute.

When the mushrooms are browned, add the garlic and spinach, and cook about 2-4 minutes, or until softened. Add the tomatoes and saute about 2 min. until hot.  Add the cooked noodles to the skillet and mix with the veg, and add the yogurt mixture.  Stir gently to combine.  Add reserved pasta water if necessary to thin it. 

Dad as my sous chef.

So colorful!

The finished product.

Here's the very simple (although a bit tedious) noodle recipe.  You will need a few hours to do it right.

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

     (I used whole wheat plus buckwheat flour and a small amount of ground flax seed meal)

3 egg yolks

1 egg

2 teasp. salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Make a well in center of flour.  Add egg yolks, egg and salt.  Mix thoroughly.  Mix in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough is stiff but easy to roll. 

Divide dough into 4 equal parts.  Roll dough, one part at a time, into a paper-thin rectangle on well-floured clothe covered board (keep remaining dough covered).  Loosely fold rectangle lengthwise into thirds and cut crosswise into 1/8 inch strips for narrow noodles, 1/4 inch strips for wider noodles.  Shake out strips and place on towel until stiff and dry, about 2 hours.

                                    

  

The biggest things I learned by making the noodles (which really were easy) was to use LOTS of flour.  And I think I would have kneaded the dough (even though the directions don't say to).  Since I don't have a pasta machine, I think kneading would have made the pasta easier to work with.  It was also hard to get it really thin without the pasta machine, but they still tasted like noodles, and we enjoyed them.   Give it a try.

Colorado Buffalo Chili

 I had two packages of ground Bison that I have been wanting to make chili with, and I finally had time to do it today...

I started off in the usual way, with olive oil on the bottom of my cast iron pan, and adding onion, then celery to saute.  Then I added the bison and let it brown up a bit.  I used two pounds, so this is double the recipe I will post at the end.

Next, I drained four cans of kidney beans, both light and dark for contrast, and rinsed them to remove some of the salt.  Then I added a big can of diced, fire roasted tomatoes, a bottle of dark beer, and the beans, and stirred it up good.  Then it's time for seasoning.  For chili, I like both chili powder and cumin, some sweetner (I used both a few tablespoons of sugar and some honey), chopped garlic, salt and pepper, cholula hot sauce, and a little adobo sauce.  (Rachael Ray had a great idea for adobo which I used:  you never use the whole can, so whatever is left put in the freezer in a little bag or container, pop it out when you need it, and grate whatever you need, then put the rest back in the freezer.  It worked like a charm, and believe me, you only need about a tablespoon to feel the heat!)

To serve it, I chunked an avocado on top, along with some shredded cheese, a little coconut and some crushed tortilla chips.  It was amazing!  Also, thanks to the Dunphy Brewery for the delicious Octoberfest.  It was a little lemony with a hint of molasses, and very mild, a nice offset for the spicy hot chili.

• 1 pound ground buffalo
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles 
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can kidney beans, drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 Anaheim chile pepper, chopped
• 1 poblano chile pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 bottle dark beer
• Honey/sugar 1-2 T
• Chilis in adobo
• Chalula hot sauce to taste
• (I doubled this recipe.  I did not use this)

Directions

1.                         Brown the buffalo in a skillet over medium heat; season with 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper and 1/2 teaspoon cumin; drain.

2.                         Combine the buffalo, tomatoes with green chiles, tomato soup, kidney beans, black beans, onion, garlic, Anaheim chile pepper, poblano chile pepper, chili powder, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and salt in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on Low overnight or 8 hours.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 220 | Total Fat: 2.4g | Cholesterol: 39mg Powered by ESHA Nutrient Database

Epic Leftovers: Broccoli and Cheese Soup

I've made some pretty awesome meals/dishes from leftovers we have, but I think this one is definitely the best I've ever done.

So my fridge is still totally packed, mostly with leftovers from our Super Bowl party last weekend. I had a LOT of raw veggies leftover, including carrots, green peppers, and broccoli. I also still have about half of the chicken stock that I made a week or so ago; I never put it in the freezer, so I knew I needed to use it up soon. And then last night I made us some delish homemade mac and cheese, but I made way to much cheese sauce for the amount of pasta I had. So I have leftover cheese sauce, which I was convinced I would never use.


But I had an epiphany! One of my go-to ideas when I want to get rid of leftovers is soup. Veggies and broth are especially ideal for soup. I had a lot of broccoli, so I knew that would be the main part of the soup. And searching for a way to incorporate my cheese sauce.....ah ha!! Broccoli cheese soup!

I started like I start all my soups - sauteing onions and other veggies in some olive oil. I normally use garlic too, but there was a lot in my cheese sauce so I left it out this time. For my soup I used a small onion, a couple carrots, and 3 heads and stems of broccoli. I also added 2 small potatoes, for added texture.


I sauteed the veggies a bit, just to get a bit of flavor into them. Then I added all my broth, and brought it to a boil.


I let the soup simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the veggies were al dente (I checked my broccoli stems for doneness).

In batches, I pureed all the veggies and broth in my blender. (You could also use your fancy schmancy immersion blender if you have one!) I then added it back to my pot, and scooped in my cheese sauce.


At this point, the soup looked puke green and the cheese sauce was clumpy and gross, and I was super nervous this wasn't going to work.

Then the cheese melted and everything got smooth! I seasoned with salt and pepper, and added a little butter to make Paula Deen happy.


Result!! Super yummy, but probably not the best idea to have for dinner alone - Evan and I had some chips/crackers/bread with it to add a little more calories. The soup was nice and smooth, with a few bites of veg every now and then, which added a nice texture. You could even puree it less if you wanted a more chunky soup. I was thinking a few dashes of hot sauce would add a tasty kick too!

I love it when leftover recipes come out like this!

Homemade chicken stock

Remember that orange-garlic roast chicken I made a while back? Well, I wanted to make the most of my chicken, so I saved the carcass and made homemade chicken stock!

I followed Julia Child's recipe, I figured she should know how to make it.

To start, I placed the carcass/bones in a pot, and covered it with water so it was 2 inches above the chicken. I brought it to a simmer, and as foam began to rise, I scraped it off with a spoon until it stopped forming, about 5 minutes or so.


After removing the foam, I added all these veggies:


That would be 2-3 unpeeled carrots, 2 stalks celery, and 2 peeled onions. In the cheesecloth, I have 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, 2 tbsp dried parsley, 2 cloves garlic. I think you can use basically whatever herbs you want, and should probably use fresh, but I only had dried. I threw all the veggies in the pot with some salt, and let it simmer with the lid cracked. I checked every so often to skim the top and make sure the liquid didn't boil.

I had a free night, so I let it simmer for about 4-5 hours. Once it was cooled down a bit, I pulled out the big veggies and bones and strained the liquid into a container.



Pretty! I stuck it in the fridge, and the next morning I scraped the fat off the top that had solidified.

I had quite a bit of leftover chicken from the original roast as well, so I made some seriously homemade chicken noodle soup! I still have a bit of stock left, so I'm going to stick it in the freezer until I need it again.

This recipe was super low-maintenance, but you do have to be around while it cooks. The nice thing is you can just kind of accumulate chicken bones and stuff and throw it in the freezer, and then when you have a free day to make stock, you can pull it out and throw it in! I'm pretty sure the next time I roast a chicken, I'll be making stock again :)

Asian Lettuce Wraps

We had these at P.F. Chang's and they are so good! I saw this recipe in my January All You, check out the link for a much prettier picture!

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 1  onion, chopped
• 2  cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2  pounds  ground turkey
• 1/2  cup  low-sodium chicken broth
• 2  tablespoons  hoisin sauce
• 2  tablespoons  teriyaki sauce
• 1  cup  bean sprouts (about 4 oz.)
• 2  carrots, shredded (about 1 cup)
• 24  large Boston or butter lettuce leaves
• Soy sauce, optional

 I wish I could say that I followed the recipe exactly, but since I didn't have hoisin sauce or teriyaki sauce, I really ended up making my own sauce. I used soy sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar, and a little sugar, along with the suggested chicken broth. Mostly I just kept tasting until it was the way I liked!

We also used iceberg lettuce instead of the cute little lettuce the recipe calls for. It worked fine, we just ended up with a lot of meat in each leaf!

The only thing we would do differently is to add more veggies because (even Martin said) it was just too much meat! When you have tacos, you add a bunch of other toppings, but the "toppings" were already mixed together in this recipe. I would double or even triple the amount of shredded carrots (you can hardly even see them in my picture) and larger sprouts would have been better. I think some cabbage would work nicely in this too.

This was a winner, even with Emma! We'll be having it again sometime soon!

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

I made a ham the other day, and this is one of the things I made with the leftovers:

2 lbs. potatoes, enough for 4 cups sliced thin, about 5-6 medium

3 tablespoons marg. or butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teasp. pepper

2 1/2 cups milk

1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup) (optional)

ham, cut into cubes or small pieces, enough for six servings

1 tablespoon margerine or butter


Prepare potatoes by scrubbing under cold water, removing eyes and imperfections. You do not have to peel them. Cut into thin slices to measure about 4 cups. I used this cheap, plastic mandolin that we got for a wedding present, if you can believe that! I can't understand why it took me 25 years to start using it, it is soooo easy. For years, I used the metal box grater in the photo (like Oma), and a few times, I used my food processor blade. But this is the best!

Heat 3 tablespoons margerine in saucepan over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Stir in cheese, if desired. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Arrange potatoes in greased 2-quart casserole in 3 layers, topping each of the first two layers with 1/2 of the onion, 1/2 of the ham, and 1/3 of the white sauce.

Top with remaining potatoes and sauce. Dot with 1 tablespoon margerine. Cover and cook in 350 degree oven for 30 min. Uncover and cook until potatoes are tender, 60-70 min. longer. Let stand 5-10 min. before serving. 6 servings

Orange-garlic roast chicken with balsamic glazed carrots

I roasted my first chicken tonight!!!

It wasn't too scary - honestly the worst part was having to stick half my arm up the chicken's butt to pull out its heart and liver since they weren't in a nice neat little bag.

I don't have a roasting pan, so I used my new Le Creuset baking dish ($25 at Marshall's, thankyouverymuch!):


I used a recipe from my Martha Stewart Living magazine. Here are the ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Coarse salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 navel oranges, 1 zested, both cut into 2-inch wedges
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme, plus a few sprigs (I used ~1 tsp. dried thyme)
  
• 1 whole chicken (4 to 4 1/2 pounds)
• 2 red onions, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch wedges (I just had yellow onions)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. The recipe says to mash the garlic and salt together in a paste. I've seen this done with the edge of a knife on your cutting board, but I decided to use my mortar and pestle. I added the zest and thyme to the paste too.

Mix the garlic paste with the butter.

Prepare the chicken - rinse it under cold water, and make sure there aren't any feathers still stuck in the skin. Remove all the goodies from the cavity of the bird, then pat it dry and place it in your dish. Tuck the wings under the body. Gently separate the skin from the flesh, and rub half the butter mixture under the skin. Fill the cavity with a couple onion and orange wedges, and tie the legs together (I didn't have kitchen twine, so I used a rubber band...). Salt the bird, and arrange the rest of the onions and oranges around the bird, dotting with the rest of the butter.


So pretty! Roast for 30 minutes, then flip all the aromatics. I was supposed to save some butter for basting, but didn't realize - there were plenty of juices in the pan to baste with though, so that worked fine.

Roast and check and baste at 15 minute intervals until done - I pulled mine out after about an hour, because I thought the skin was going to burn. I should have left it in another 15-25 minutes, though, because the thighs were still pink. The breasts were done and super juicy though!

Here's the finished product:



It looked so pretty I couldn't believe it came out of my oven!! The rub really flavored the chicken well, it was very orangey and delicious. The onions and oranges in the pan were also really good, they had a nice roasty flavor and who doesn't love super-sweet roasted oranges?

I cooked up some balsamic-glazed carrots to go with. Basically I made glazed carrots like Mom usually does, but instead of butter and sugar, I used balsamic vinegar and butter, and let it reduce to a glaze. They were really yummy and a new flavor combo for us.


Anybody else have any fun chicken roasting stories?

Balsamic tilapia with spinach pesto potatoes

These recipes look super fancy and difficult, but they were actually really simple and easy to pull off! I think they're great for a night when you want a little fancier dinner, but don't feel like standing in the kitchen for hours to get it!

First, the potatoes. This recipe is straight from Joy the Baker, one of the recipe blogs I like to read. I cut it in half since there's only two of us:

• 2 russet potatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• salt
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

Preheat over to 425. Thinly slice garlic cloves. Scrub potatoes well, and slice a small layer off the bottom to give it a base. Cut thin rounds in the potatoes, but don't slice all the way through the potato. Place slices of garlic in between every other slice, like this:

The slices kind of like to stick together, but if you get a knife in between that helps spread them apart. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet, cover with a pat of butter and drizzle of oil. Bake for 1 hour, basting with the melted butter every 15 minutes - this will make the potatoes nice and crispy!

For the spinach pesto:

• 2 loosely packed cups of spinach
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cups roasted cashews (I used pecans and toasted them until fragrant)
  
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Blend everything but the olive oil in a food processor until finely chopped. Slowly add oil while pulsing. Make sure to taste for the seasonings!

Yum!

The original recipe for the balsamic tilapia was courtesy Rachael Ray - the tilapia was salted, peppered, and lightly dusted with flour. I sauteed it for about 4 minutes on each side. After removing the fish, lower heat to medium and add 3 Tbsp. butter. Allow the butter to brown (about 3 minutes) then add 1/4 C. balsamic vinegar. Simmer 1 to 2 minutes and allow mixture to reduce by half.


The sauce gets nice and thick and sweet-smelling! Just pour some over the fish.

When the potatoes are done they look like this:


See how the sections separate? So pretty!!


The finished product was super yummy, and really light and fresh-tasting. I still have some leftover pesto, I'll probably put over pasta or chicken.

Side note - there is a bit of butter/oil in these recipes, but I think they could be pretty easily substituted with margarine or olive oil, if you want.

Don't be afraid to try these, even though they look kind of complicated. They were actually quite simple, but they look really impressive on the plate! Enjoy!