Power of pesto

Not only have I been putting pesto on pizzas, but I've also been trying it in salads. Specifically in this Pesto Power Salad. This salad was just OK - it's definitely a side dish, not a main entree. It might be worth a try if you love pesto and edamame.

Pesto Power Salad
recipe from Bitchin' Camero

Ingredients:

For the pesto:
2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed
1 cup almonds
6 cloves garlic
1 oz. Parmesan cheese
1 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. sea salt (I greatly reduce this amount, you have enough flavor from the other ingredients)
1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 cups cooked farro (about 2 cups uncooked) - (I used barley)
1 lb. shelled, frozen edamame beans

Directions:

Prepare the pesto by blending all of the ingredients together.

Boil the edamame for 5 minutes then run under cold water.

Cook the farro/barley and add 1/2 the pesto mixture and all of the beans. Freeze remaining pesto for future use.

I'm a pizza fanatic

I recently discovered my love for homemade pizza. We used to buy the pre-baked crusts and then I'd throw some storebought marinara sauce on with some sort of meat topping. Those days are long gone. Now I'm all about making my pizza completely from scratch, and topping it with as many veggies as I can cram onto the crust. It's terrific, you've got to give it a try!

Homemade Pizza

Dough ingredients (from the Kitchenaid mixer booklet)
1 pkg active yeast
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Directions for dough:
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil, salt, and flour. Put in mixer and mix until dough forms a ball, adding more flour if necessary. Let raise for one hour, punch down, and place on oiled cookie sheet. Press dough across cookie sheet (I usually form a rectangle). Bake in oven for 15 minutes at 450 degrees (I actually cook the dough for 7 minutes, then add the rest of the toppings for the remaining 8 minutes).

Toppings:
I've been using a pesto sauce on my pizza, and I love it! Eventually I'll try a regular marinara sauce, but for now I'm addicted to pesto. For my pesto I combine basil, olive oil, salt, pecorino cheese, almonds, pepper, and garlic in a blender. Blend until smooth.

One time I used hummus on the pizza instead of pesto sauce, and I thought it was quite good (The Husband tolerated it but didn't love it).

On top of the pesto I've been using whatever veggies I have handy. I've tried tomatoes, peppers, olives, feta cheese, red onions, mushrooms, spinach, and artichoke hearts in various combinations.


Just try whatever sounds good to you!

Back to our usual programming

I have a backlog of at least a months worth of recipes from before we went on vacation. I'm going to do my best to remember what I made...here goes nothing!

Pot Roast with Beer

I'm a firm believer that beer can improve the flavor of a meal, whether served with it or literally cooked into it. This pot roast is made in the crockpot and submerged in beer for at least 8 hours. It's delicious,and so incredibly tender. The original recipe calls for it to be made in the oven but it's just as easily made in a crockpot.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil (omitted)

1 (3 pound) beef pot roast

1 onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound carrots, cut into chunks

1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms (omitted)

1 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (omitted)

2 cups beef stock

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle dark beer

1 bay leaf

3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon brown sugar (omitted)

2 tablespoons whole-grain Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon tomato paste

salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
*The original recipe says to brown the meat, but I didn't bother.*

Mix all of the ingredients together in a crockpot and cook on low for at least 8 hours.
Enjoy!
This is now my favorite pot roast recipe.

More Alaska Pictures

One of my favorite things about cruising are the super fun towel animals! Every night after dinner, we'd come back to find our room freshly prepped and a towel animal hanging out. Some of them were a little weird looking, but others were easily identifiable.





We saw incredible scenery in Alaska:


















Even saw a cardboard Sarah Palin (I really wanted to pose with me punching her, but I restrained myself). :)And the whalewatching was spectacular!! Probably my favorite part of the trip!
Hope you enjoyed my pictures, and I recommend taking a vacation as soon as possible. :)

Alaska Cruise: At Port

Our first port day was in Skagway, where we met up with our friend Holly who took us to some of her favorite restaurants. We had drinks and split an order of the crab quesadillas at a little cafe. I had an espresso martini (which was delicious) and The Husband had a margarita.We then ventured over to Sugar Mamas, a cupcake bakery. I had a rhubarb cupcake which was incredibly tasty. Check out how cute the store is:
For dinner we went to Starfire, a local Thai restaurant, and the food was just amazing. We had three different dishes: Prik Pao, Chu Chi, and Khao Soi.The next day we were in Juneau, and after whale-watching (coolest experience ever, pictures in the next post) we ate at The Hangar, which overlooked the water. It was a cute little place, and very busy. We each had a beer, and I had the halibut&chips and Hubs had a fish sandwich. So good, and pretty reasonable!Our next (and last Alaskan) port was Ketchikan. We had a quick meal of paninis at Polar Treats, and also split a smoothie. The menu has a disclaimer about how long the paninis take, but they were worth the wait!
Our last port was Victoria, but we only had a few hours there and didn't have a chance to eat.

The food was really great in Alaska, much better than what we were served on the boat. Really enjoyed it, and highly recommend all of the restaurants we tried!