Creamy Broccoli Spaghetti

I bought Broccoli on sale not knowing what I wanted to make with it until this came to mind.

Ingredients:
2 - Crowns of Broccoli
2 - Cups Heavy Cream
1 - Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 - Cup Olive Oil
3 - Garlic Cloves
1 - Box Spaghetti
1 - Tbsp of Butter


Directions:
Rough chop the broccoli and steam.

Put the broccoli, cream, oil, garlic and cheese (in batches) in your food processor and process.

Boil Spaghetti.

Add butter and mix.

Pour sauce over the spaghetti and combine.

Serve with some fresh bread.

A couple of lessons learned from this one:

• I wanted it to be a creamy sauce but it turned more into a pesto. To correct this I would need to add more cream.
• In my head I pictured it being a cream sauce with tinny broccoli florets in it. Next time I would cut off a bunch of florets and place them to the side before putting everything in the food processor. Then add the florets to the sauce before plating.

Carrot and Lentil Soup

I had a bit of an orange theme going on with this soup. It's a pretty simple soup but has a really good flavor!

Ingredients:

1 - Large White Onion

2 - Tbsp of Olive Oil

2 - Large Carrots (or the equivalent amount of small carrots)

1 - Cup of Red Lentils

4 - Cups of Water

1 - Tsp of Salt

 (These are the last of my Garden Carrots)

Directions:
Dice the onion and add to a large stock pot with the olive oil. Place over low heat, cooking to a translucent colour.

Clean and chop the carrots.

Grate the carrots.

Add grated carrots to the stock pot.

Rinse the lentils and add to the pot.

Add water and increase the temperature to high.

Once boiling, reduce to low, add salt and simmer for 25 - 30 minutes.

After 25 - 30 minutes, check to make sure the lentils are cooked.

Plate and serve, add additional salt as needed to really bring out the flavors!

Quinoa Salad

Salads are pretty easy to make but you can often get into a routine of making the same lettuce salad with cucumber, tomato and a dressing.

Ingredients:
1 - Cup of quinoa (cooked and cooled)
3 - Avocados
8 - Cherry tomatoes (chopped)
1/4 - Cup of Feta Cheese
3 - Tbsp olive Oil
1 - Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 - Tsp Salt
1/4 - Tsp Pepper
Chives as a garnish

Directions:
Put Quinoa into a bowl.

Peel and chop your avocado.

Add it to the quinoa.

Chop up some cherry tomatoes.

Add the tomatoes to the bowl.

Add in the Feta Cheese.

Pour in some olive oil, lemon juice, then add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix together and garnish with some chives on the side and chopped over top.

Garlic Scape Pesto

In the Fall, I plant my garlic cloves and in the Spring, the garlic starts to sprout. By the end of June it's time to cut off the garlic scapes so that my garlic bulbs will grow nice and big. But what do you do with those garlic scapes that you cut off? I occasionally use it like normal garlic, chopping finely and adding to recipes but this time I decided to make a pesto with it!

Ingredients:
10 - Garlic Scapes
1/4 - Cup of Pine Nuts
1/3 - Cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 - Cup of Olive Oil
1/2 - tsp of Salt
1/2 - tsp of Pepper

Directions:
Roughly chop your garlic scapes.

Measure out your pine nuts.

Break up your cheese into small pieces.

Put the scapes, pine nuts, cheese, salt, and pepper into a food processor and cover with 1/4 cup of the olive oil.

Process until all of the big lumps are gone, adding additional olive oil as needed.

Once done, it will look something like this.

Put into a container or bowl and your pesto is complete!

Boil some water and cook 1/2 box of pasta (serves 2 - 3). Once cooked to your liking, drain the pasta and then put it back into the pot.

Scoop in small portions of the pesto and mix into the pasta; add as much as you like. I like everything to be well coated so I end up using about 1/3 of my pesto.

Plate and serve with some additional Parmesan cheese on the side.

Indian Quinoa

This is another random creation that I wasn't really sure what to call but because of the Indian spices, I settled on "Indian Quinoa". I had this as a side with dinner but it can also be eaten on it's own (cold) as a healthy snack for at work.

Ingredients:
2 - Tbsp Olive Oil
1 - Small Pepper (Chopped)
1/2 - White Onion (Chopped)
6 - Button Mushrooms (Chopped)
1 - Clove Garlic (Chopped)
1 - Tsp Grand Marsala
1 - Tsp Paprika
1 - Tbsp Curry Paste (This was a Butter Chicken one)
1 - Cup Quinoa
2 - Cups Beef Stock


Directions:
Heat a large pan over Medium-Low heat (4/10). Add the Pepper.

Add Onion.

Add Mushroom.

Add Garlic and then let cook for 5 or 7 minutes or until everything start to turn a little translucent.

Add in the Grand Marsala, Paprika and Curry Paste.

Mix everything together and let simmer for a couple of minutes.

While the mixture is simmering, rise the quinoa.

Add the quinoa to the mixture.

Mix everything together.

Add the beef stock.

Raise to a boil and then bring back down to low (3/10).

Occasionally stir until the liquid has been fully absorbed. 20 - 25 minutes.

Put into a serving dish and you are all set!