A Life, Lived

Pasta with Turkey and Broccoli

This is a delicious low-cal addition to the weekend dinner rotation for those times when you have overdone it with sweets and other and things. . . .i.e. for me, all of the time. :-)

An even better aspect of this recipe - it is QUICK! Making it a perfect addition to a week night meal.

Pasta with Turkey and Broccoli

3/4 pound orecchiette
2 cups broccoli florets
1 pound ground turkey
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Add the broccoli during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Drain and return the pasta and broccoli to the pot.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey, onions, garlic, crushed red pepper and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss the turkey mixture with the pasta and broccoli, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, and stir.

Serves 4.

The Women of History?

Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

Lemon and blueberry is one of my favourite taste combinations. Here it joins an easy buttermilk pancake recipe to make a delicious breakfast treat.

These pancakes are amazing. They are so soft and fluffy, they might throw you for a loop because they’re not quite like the typical pancakes: they are almost like a souffle. They are so insanely delicious, however, you will find yourself craving them at all hours.

Lemon Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, beaten
zest from one very large or two small lemons
3 cups buttermilk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups blueberries, frozen or fresh<
Additional butter for grill

Preheat griddle on medium low heat.

In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center.

In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, zest, buttermilk, and melted butter. Pour wet ingredients into bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir very gently by folding liquid into dry ingredients. You want your batter to be lumpy.

Grease hot grill with butter. Place large spoonful of batter onto grill. Top each pancake with 8-12 blueberries, then dot the top of each blueberry with a bit of batter to prevent the pancake from sticking to the grill after you flip it. Do not flip until the pancake has lots of bubbles and the bottom is a golden brown. Flip only once and do not smash down with your spatula.

Serve with pure maple syrup.

Travel Tuesdays - Volterra

On our first visit to Italy we visited the ancient Etruscan town of Volterra . . . today it is famous for the production of alabaster.

 

Life Lessons . . .

Roasted Beet Salad with Fennel, Black Olives, and Pecorino

When we were in San Francisco together for the first time I took my friend Nancy to A16. As a surprise she bought me their cookbook: A16: Food + Wine. When I was looking for an antipasti idea for Valentine's Day dinner I remembered this recipe. We had all of the ingredients on hand so this became the centerpiece of the first course feast.

Fresh beets are roasted until tender, allowed to cool, peeled, and chopped into wedges. Fennel is sliced, quickly blanched, rinsed, and drained. A thick vinaigrette is made from black olives and  tossed with the prepared beets. The drained, sliced fennel is tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt.

The focus of the salad is the sweetness of the vegetables accented by the briny olives and salty cheese. Each item on the plate fulfilled exactly what it should have. The fennel was perfect with lemon, and the olives met well with the earthy sweetness of the beets. The sharp yet rich bite of the cheese brought all the flavors together. The end result was an amazing salad which we have eaten a number of times since!

Roasted Beet Salad with Fennel, Black Olives, and Pecorino

2 bunches beets, about 8 in total
kosher salt
1/2 cup EV olive oil, plus more for roasting the beets
1 1/2 fennel bulbs
2/3 cups black olives, pitted
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
Block of pecorino cheese for shaving

Trim and wash the beets. Place the beets in a roasting pan. Season with 1 T salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Cover with foil. Roast for about an hour - the beets should be tender when pierced with a fork.

Remove the beets from the oven. Let cool. Rub the skins off with your hands. Slice the beets into 1/3 inch wide wedges. Set aside.

Trim the fennel bulbs - reserve the feathery tops for garnish. Cut the bulbs in half length-wise and trim away the core. Slice diagonally into 1/4 inch slices. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the sliced fennel. Blanch for about 2 minutes Drain. Place in ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Set aside.

To make the vinaigrette, pulse the olives in a food processor until they form a chunky paste. Drizzle in 1/4 cup of the olive oil and the vinegar. Pulse to combine. Taste for seasoning - add more vinegar if needed.

In a bowl toss the fennel and 1/4 cup olive oil. Be sure to coat the fennel evenly. Mix in the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Taste for seasoning, add more salt or lemon juice as needed.

In a separate bowl combine the beets with the olive vinaigrette and toss until the beets are thoroughly coated.

To serve, place the beets in a bowl or on a platter. Top with the fennel. Using a vegetable peeler, shave curls of pecorino over the salad. Serve immediately.

Photo Hunt - Night

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'night'.

YEAH

I can finally post one of my favourite pics of all time . . . night in Venice.

Our last night in Venice in my 50th birthday trip . . .

Proof that we Need More Critical Literacy and Thought Taught in Schools

While things aren't nearly as bad in Canada as they are in the US . . .

Support Local Farmers

In June 2014, Heinz had ended ketchup production in Leamington, where it had been making the condiment since 1909.

Highbury Canco bought the plant from Heinz, but it cut 740 employees and there'd be no more ketchup - until earlier this year that is. Though best known for mustard, French's stepped in in January to produce ketchup with Highbury Canco and promised to use tomatoes from farms around Leamington and in southwestern Ontario. Eveny betterm that promise to cut back on the amount of high fructose corn syrup normally used by Heinz.

Bye, bye Heinz.

Learning Curve

I started a new job yesterday.

This is me . . .