The Ultimate Southern Pesto to Dress up Dinner

Oh joy!  A friend gave me a new cookbook last week, Bon Appetite, Y’all by Virginia Willis.  High-brow French cooking meets down home southern - I am in love already.  

I had the best of intentions of diving into the pages over the weekend and cooking up a storm on Sunday.  But the reality of being the on-the-go mother to a toddler set in and I managed only to skim the first few chapters during little man’s nap time.  (I really need one of those time-turners thingies like in the Harry Potter movie, to create some more hours in my day!!)

Today I was determined to try something new from the luscious pages of my new cookbook.  What I came up with was an awesome little super quick recipe, perfect for dressing up ordinary chicken on a typically rushed Monday night.

Pecan-Basil Pistou is Willis’s southern twist on a basic pesto recipe (or pistou which is the French version of the italian classic condiment).  The southern twist, as you may have guessed from the name, is the pecans.  

Pesto is incredibly easy to make it.  There are 5 basic ingredients - fresh basil, garlic, parmesan, pine nuts and olive oil, plus a little salt and pepper for seasoning.  With the aid of a food processor you can whip this recipe up in about 5 minutes.  This southern version swaps out the pine nuts in favor of pecans which add a rich meaty flavor.  I modified the recipe slightly to fit the ingredients I had on hand and my personal taste.

Pesto is an excellent condiment for dressing up pasta, or bread or variety of other foods.  For dinner tonight I added a dollop of my freshly made southern pesto to pan seared chicken.  

My chicken was simple - thin sliced chicken breast seasoned with garlic salt & pepper then quickly seared in a dash of olive oil over medium high heat.  I made the pesto in the food processor while the chicken was sizzling away in the skillet.   After plating the fully cooked chicken, I added a spoonful of of my freshly made pesto right before serving.  It took my chicken from everyday ordinary to Italian-Southern fusion cuisine!  Now that is what I call totally delish!!

The Ultimate Southern Pesto

Total prep time: 5 minutes

• 2 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, finally chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 3/4 shredded parmesan
• 3/4 cup extra-version olive oil (plus extra if needed to get to desired consistency)
• course salt and freshly ground pepper

Place the basils leaves, chopped garlic, pecans, shredded parmesan and 3/4 cup of olive oil in a food processor.  Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed to get all ingredients fully processed.  

With the food processor running on low, slowly pour in a little more olive oil until the pesto reaches the desired consistency.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Store any left pesto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.  Or freeze for up to one month.

Tip: If you opt to freeze the pesto, try freezing in an ice cube tray.  When fully frozen, pop out the pesto cubes and store in freezer bag in the freezer.  This way you can easily take out just the portion you want to use.

Brown Sugar Teriyaki Steelhead Trout with Toasted Pecans

Yeah for the first day of summer!  Warm days, vacation plans and the inevitable need to get into a bathing suit again.  (deep sigh!)  Time to head back to the gym.

Naturally, I am trying to work out more this time of year. I won’t lie...it is so hard to make time most days.   My best opportunity is to use my lunch hour to pop over to the gym for a quick workout, but even that is a challenge to accomplish.  

I am trying to sneak in a little extra work out time in other places too - like Logan’s bath time.  While he plays with his bath toys I grab my arm weights (which I keep under the sink) and sneak in a few reps.  Logan helps me count.  Of course being barely 2 years-old his numbers tend to come out in random order.   I have no idea how many reps I am actually getting in, but I figure any number is 100 times more than what I was doing before , so it is all good.

In keeping with my new found quest to become bathing suit ready, I am trying to keep it lean and healthy at dinner time.  I am also trying to eat more seafood.  Tonight my healthy choice was steelhead trout baked in a super simple teriyaki and brown sugar glaze then finished with a few toasted pecans.  It was totally delish!

If you have never tried steelhead trout, it is a meaty fish that looks a lot salmon.  However the flavor of steelhead trout is milder than salmon.  It is also less oily and therefore has less omega 3 fatty-acids than salmon as well.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Brown Sugar Teriyaki Steelhead Trout with Toast Pecans

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20-25 minutes

Makes: 4 entrees

• 4 steelhead trout fillets (skin off)
• 3/4 cup teriyaki sauce
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup toasted pecans
• tin foil

Preheat oven to 350º.

Tear off 4 sheets of tin foil, each approximately 12 inches long.  

Place 1 fillet on each piece of tin foil.  Top with each fillet with 3 tablespoons of teriyaki sauce and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.  Pull two sides up of the tin foil together and roll closed.  Pull the other two sides up and roll closed to form a sealed packet.

Place the 4 sealed packets of fish on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until fish is fully cooked.

While fish is cooking, place pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the color deepens and the nuts become fragrant. 

When fish are fully cooked remove from the foil packs and place on serving dishes.  Top with brown sugar teriyaki sauce to taste (from the foil packets) and toasted pecans.

Rational Roast Chicken vs Wonderful Waffles

Today as I was picking up little dude from daycare I hear one of the other mother’s making an innocent comment about her kids being on a waffle kick for breakfast for the past month.  And just that quickly the urning for waffles began.  All of a sudden the left-over roasted chicken and fresh asparagus I had planned for dinner sounds so plain-Jane and boring.  I want waffles!

I have the internal debate the whole ride home.  “Responsible mommies do not serve waffles for dinner.” “Waffles would be so easy.” “There is healthy respectable roasted chicken and fresh asparagus in the fridge that shouldn’t go to waste.”  “I want some yummy waffles!"

As you probably guessed - the waffles won out.  However I did decide if I was going to be that “irresponsible” about dinner then I was going to have to work for it a little bit.  So I went home, tossed Logan in the stroller and we walked to the grocery store to pick up my contraband waffles.  Now I live on the coast in southern Georgia and it is the middle of June.  It is hot, humid and the ‘skeetos and lethal.  This was some serious penance for a few waffles.  

So here is how dinner ended up - Kashi 7 Grain Waffles smeared with MaraNatha All Natural Roasted Almond Butter, a generous handful of fresh berries topped with just a subtle kiss of Kirkland Signature 100% Real Maple Syrup.  And to drink I whipped up my Sunshine in a Glass Mango Smoothie.  It was heaven!  

After careful examination of the various nutrition labels I have determine that with the possible exception that there was nothing green on our plates, dinner actually wasn't all that bad for us.  Yeah for yummy waffles!  The roast chicken will just have to keep until tomorrow.

Pearl Couscous with Brown Butter, Sizzled Sage and Walnuts

I can not lie, this week has been a doozie.  Work is flat out kicking my butt - too many projects, too many priorities and not enough time!  It is enough to drive a foodie to cook excessively.  By Friday I am in need of a de-stressing detox and someone to hide the carton of cookies and cream ice cream I have stashed in the back of the freezer.  

I check the pantry for a healthier alternative before the cookies and cream wins the battle of the dinner plate.  I manage to find some whole wheat pearl couscous, walnuts and dried figs.  This may sound like a weird combination but it actually gives me dinner inspiration.

Dinner tonight will be brown butter couscous with sizzled fresh sage and walnuts paired with a fig, goat cheese and walnut salad.  Sounds fancy doesn’t it?  It is actually a really easy dinner to pull off.

Brown butter is one of my favorite indulgences.  Browning butter only takes a couple of minutes in the skillet and you are rewarded with a nutty rich butter experience.    Once the butter is browned simply add some fresh chopped sage and walnuts let it sizzle for for another minute or two and toss it with the cooked couscous.  Capital “P” - Perfection!

My fig and goat cheese salad was another easy thrown together thing.  It doesn’t even require a recipe just an assembly list - green leaf lettuce, yellow bell pepper, sliced dried figs, goat cheese and toasted walnuts.    I topped it with a balsamic vinaigrette.  

Friday detox dinner accomplished!  One delicious dinner and a lovely glass of pinot noir  later and the stress level has come down....at least until Monday comes back around again.  

Pearl Couscous with Brown Butter, Sizzled Sage and Walnuts

Prep time: 2 minutes - Cook time: 23 minutes - Makes: 4 servings

1 1/2 cup whole wheat couscous

4 tablespoons butter

6 leaves fresh sage, chopped

1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Cook couscous according to package directions.

Place butter in a large skillet and put on high heat.  Sizzle the butter until it turns brown.

Add chopped sage to the butter.  Sizzle the sage for 1 minute stirring occasionally.  Add walnuts and sizzle for another 20 seconds.  Add the drained cooked couscous, toss together and serve.