Pesto

3/4 cups Fresh Basil Leaves

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

3 Tablespoons Pine Nuts

2 cloves Garlic, Peeled

 Salt And Pepper, to taste

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Add basil leaves, 1/2 cup Parmesan, pine nuts, and salt and pepper to a food processor or blender. Turn machine on, then drizzle in olive oil while it mixes. Continue blending until combined, adding additional olive oil if needed.

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo}

1 large egg

½ cup milk

¼ cup canola oil

1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)

¼ C grated Parmesan cheese

Optional:  extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add. 

Preheat oven to 400°.  

Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth.  Add cheeses and pulse 2 times.  Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.  Sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan.  Serve warm.

These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. 

This recipe can be found here.

Greek Taboule Salad

1 Pkg. Near East Taboule Wheat Salad

1 large tomato, chopped

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 cut (4 oz.) crumbled feta cheese

¾ cup peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

Romaine lettuce

In a large bowl, combine wheat and contents of Spice Sack.  Stir in 1 cup of boiling water.  Cover and let stand 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Stir in tomato, olive oil, lemon juice, cheese, cucumber and basil.  Mix well.

Cover; chill 1 hour or overnight. 

Toss well before serving on a bed of lettuce.

Mix and Match Quick Bread

Create your perfect loaf of quick bread: This customizable recipe leads to thousands of possibilities!

1. Choose a Flavor
Prepare 1 cup fruit or vegetables (one kind).
*Pear, shredded and squeezed dry
*Apple, shredded and squeezed dry
*Banana, mashed
*Carrot, shredded
*Zucchini, shredded and squeezed dry

2. Pick Your Mix-Ins
Choose up to 1 3/4 cups total of the following ingredients (use no more than 3/4 cup nuts). Toast and chop any nuts; chop any large dried fruit.
*Walnuts
*Pecans
*Almonds
*Hazelnuts
*Pistachios
*Dried cherries
*Dried cranberries*Rolled oats
*Chocolate chips (or some other flavor chip)
*Sweetened shredded coconut

3. Prepare the Pan
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan or three 6-by-3-inch mini pans.

4. Make the Batter
Mix 1 1/4 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon each baking powder and salt, and 1/2 teaspoon each baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl; add your dry mix-ins (from step 2). 
In a medium bowl, whisk 2 eggs, 1/2 cup cooled melted butter or vegetable oil, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. 
Stir your fruit or vegetables (from step 1) into the egg mixture, then fold into the dry mixture until just combined.

5. Bake the Loaf
Spread the batter in the prepared pan(s). Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes for a standard loaf, 35 to 40 minutes for mini loaves. Cool 30 minutes in the pan(s) on a rack, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely.

6. Make a Glaze
Prepare a glaze, pour on the cooled bread and let set, 15 to 20 minutes.

Chocolate
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons milk, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and a pinch of salt.

Vanilla Bean
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and the seeds from 1 vanilla bean.

Brown Butter
Brown 3 tablespoons butter over low heat; cool slightly. Whisk with 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Use immediately.

Citrus
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon each milk and citrus juice, and 1 teaspoon citrus zest.

Cream Cheese
Whisk 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons milk and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.

Make these in advance: You can store them in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

This recipe can be found here.

Carrot Cake

(not iced yet)

Cake:

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 whole eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups grated carrots

Butter, for greasing

Icing:

1 stick butter, softened

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 pound powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, chopped finely

Directions

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the granulated sugar, oil and eggs in a large bowl.

In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and combine. Then add the carrots and mix well.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake until done, about 50 minutes.

Leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile, for the icing: in a large bowl, cream the butter and cream cheese together.

Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and blend.

Then mix in the pecans.

Spread the icing on the cooled carrot cake.

This recipe can be found here.

Bissara (Fava Bean Dip)

Approximately 1 cup shelled fava beans

Zest and juice of one lemon

Few tbsp. of olive oil, to get your preferred dip consistency

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

Few sprigs of cilantro

1 jalapeno

1 clove of garlic

Salt to taste

Steam cook (or sauté) the fresh fava beans for about a minute along with garlic and jalapeno.

Place them in a blender/food processor along with other seasoning, blend them and with a running motor add some olive oil until it reaches your desired dip consistency.

Add salt to taste.

Banana Lemon Muffins

1 stick margarine

1¼ cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 cup mashed bananas

Pinch of salt

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

¾ cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°.  Grease muffin cups.

Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Whip in bananas, lemon juice and vanilla.  Sift dry ingredients together.  Stir in banana mixture alternately with buttermilk. 

Bake for 20 minutes.  Makes 18 muffins

Sweet Potato Hash

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 red onion, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

1 red bell pepper, diced (about 2 cups)

2 pounds sweet potatoes, quartered and cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Pour the oil into a large skillet and place over high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and saute, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the potatoes, cumin, salt and red pepper flakes, lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender and some are browned. The potatoes will begin to stick as they cook. Just continue to turn with a spatula.

Find this recipe here.

Oven Roasted Corn on the Cob

Ear/s fresh corn

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place corn husks directly on the oven rack and roast for 30 minutes or until corn is soft.  No need to remove the silk!

Peel down the husks and use as a handle when eating.

This recipe can be found here.

Banana Bread

1 cup granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

3 ripe bananas

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Recipe can be found here.