Lemon Pistachio Pesto

Basil is at it's prime right about now, I'm loving it especially in this pesto and excited to share my recipe with you all today! Pesto sings summertime with it's vibrance, nuttiness and bright flavor.  One of my favorite ways to eat this pesto is spread onto freshly rolled out pizza dough, topped with summer vegetables such as beets and zucchini, and sprinkled with cheese. 

It looks a little something like this:

Swooooon!

It also tastes delicious on grilled fish, smeared onto a hunk of bread, in potato salad, or simply tossed onto hot pasta. I could go on...  The lemon brightens the pesto and preserves it's greenness in addition to keeping it fresher longer. Red pepper flakes are optional and plenty of fresh garlic is a must because I enjoy when pesto has a little kick with lots of flavor. We prefer pistachio pesto over the traditional pine nut pesto in my household because once we've tried it, we were hooked and never looked back!

Lemon Pistachio Pesto

• 1 bunch basil, thick stems removed
• 1/3 cup shelled roasted pistachios 
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested 
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2-3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• pinch of kosher salt and pepper
• optional: 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

Place all ingredients in the food processor. Pulse a few times. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of bowl and pulse again until combined. I like it on the thicker side, though if you prefer a looser and smoother pesto, add more olive oil and pulse some more. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

What's in our first CSA bag:

This Wednesday we picked up our first CSA of the year! CSA stands for community supported agriculture, farmers share their freshly picked crops with the community, and it's a great opportunity to promote local farmers; a win-win if you ask me! It's our third year subscribing to Brenckles and this year we are picking up the produce once a week from their greenhouse in our town. We absolutely love it because we know where our produce is coming from, eating more seasonally and often get vegetables we can't find at the grocery store! 

Here's what we got in our first bag and here are what I plan on doing with each item:

• Garlic scapes - One of the least common items in our bag! They are those long green thingies on the left hand side of the photo and are the flower bud of the garlic plant. We usually receive them the first couple of weeks, and I remember the first time I saw them I had no idea what to do with them! Fortunately for Google, I learned that they make an excellent base for pesto and can also be used in place of garlic (though they're more mild in taste.) I am thinking of using this batch in chicken stock over the weekend and if I have any leftover maybe I'll chop some up to put into guacamole for Father's Day!
• Kale - Anyone who knows me knows I love kale. I'm a big fan of raw kale salads especially massaged kale. I am really intrigued by this Kale Guacamole recipe. I usually keep things simple with my guacamole but adding kale into the scene is worth trying!
• Spinach - I already made chopped spinach salad with strawberries, fresh shallot balsamic vinaigrette and poppy seeds back to back, and also added some to my smoothie this morning! I love the spinach our CSA gives us. It's so much sweeter and fresher than the stuff I find at the grocery store. My favorite ways to use it is in smoothies because it's one of the more neutral greens, raw in a salad, and it also tastes fabulous sauteed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Strawberries - I am obsessed with these strawberries! They're perfectly sweet and ripe. So far Lydia and I have been eating them as is, in the aforementioned spinach salad, and sliced up for overnight oats. 
• Local honey - I'm a big fan of baking with honey and will probably use it in some future desserts, drizzled in plain yogurt, sometimes on waffles, or in a timeless peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich. Mmmm!
• Mild salsa from the farm's veggies - The salsa is made from the farm's tomatoes, onions, garlic and peppers. It is a simple little salsa but definitely not lacking in the flavor department! Chips and salsa here we come... 

I'm looking forward to the upcoming months and using these vegetables to make delicious meals. I hope you all have a beautiful weekend and Father's Day :)

Friday Love! {6.10.16}

one // These pictures of Lydia eating corn last weekend. She was all about that corn and wasn't about to share with anyone either!

two // Buying 10 plantains for $1.99 and yucca for $0.69 a pound in New Jersey… It made part of me miss living in Jersey. We used a few of the plantains for tostones on Tuesday and now that the rest of them are ripening I'm going to make a pastelon tomorrow! And instead of making yucca fries, I'm going to boil chunks and serve them with mojo because it's been a while!

three // This blog post on protecting your marriage. Such encouraging list of things I know and have heard in different ways but always need reminded of. IE: raying for Michael, doing more of those little things, making time for him, etc. Life gets hectic being a mom, and unfortunately I haven't been making my most important relationship top priority. The list reminded me that I need to spend more time praying for Michael and being present for him. Fortunately we are going on a date tonight by ourselves to catch and spend much needed alone time with one another!

fresh out of the oven; feelin' confident with my results!

the next day after being transferred, prayin' ice cream will cover this up!

four // I learned a little lesson in pie baking. I baked a cherry pie with frozen cherries and it resulted in an extremely loose/watery filling, and then I transferred it all the way to New Jersey. Unfortunately when I took the pie out of the foil it was covered in the cherry filling and the once flaky crust became soggy. While I did have a mini meltdown, the pie was still 100% edible and was an excellent base for ice cream. I learned that next time I will be using fresh cherries in my next pie : )

five // Our CSA begins this Wednesday and I am so excited! It'll be our third year subscribing and I feel much more confident with knowing what to do with all the produce. I got a spiralizer attachment for my Kitchen-Aid on Christmas so I'm seeing a lot of zucchini pasta in the future, and possibly use my juicer to make fresh juices. (Confession: I've had my juicer for 4 years and only used it twice in my life!) Though I might need to do more research on kohlrabi and what the heck to do with it. That vegetable befuddles me. Any suggestions? 

source

six // I made these mini oatmeal cream pies and they were really quite good! I didn't get a chance to take my own picture but I found them to have the perfect balance of sweet & salty, the cream filling was delightful and not too sweet, the cookies had a nice kick from the cinnamon and were exceptionally soft as any oatmeal cookie should be!

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend!