Grilled Corn with Basil Butter

More summer grilling! This definitely spruces up your usual grilled corn.

I'm usually not too too much of a basil fan. The taste always has echoes of anise for me. Yuck!

But with the salt and butter and sweetness of the corn, it fits right in.

This recipe makes a bit of extra butter. The leftovers can be eaten on toast or other vegetables. 

So good!

"Blister in the Sun" Violent Femmes

From Food 52

Ingredients

8 ears of corn, shucked

Olive oil

Salt

For the butter:

2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup basil, loosely packed

1 tablespoon sea salt

Directions

Preheat grill to medium hot. Roll corn in a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt. When grill is hot, add corn and close the lid. Rotate the corn a few times, until some of the kernels are blistered and the rest a bright and shiny yellow. This shouldn't take longer than 8 minutes. Be careful not to overcook, or the corn will be dry. 

Meanwhile, add the butter, basil, and salt to a food processer and let it rip. You may need to scrape down the sides once or twice. When the basil is finely chopped and the butter has a light green tint, it's done.

When the corn comes off the grill, slather it with the basil butter. Sprinkle with a little more salt if desired. Eat immediately. 

Note: basil butter can be made ahead and extra basil butter will keep for about a week or two in the fridge. You can roll it into a log with plastic wrap and slice it off as you need it.

Tomato Pesto Swirl Bread

I know this is a sad excuse for a picture, but let that show you how quickly this bread was devoured.

I was enjoying the last slice when I realized I had yet to take a single picture of the fabulous bread. 

Just be aware it's pretty likely some oil from the pesto will leak out of the bread while it's baking.

This is from Alli-n-son, which has so many fabulous dessert recipes and has a really cute design. Check it out!

John Barrowman "Anything Goes"

Ingredients

• Bread
• 1-1/4 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dry yeast
Pesto Swirl
• 1/4 cup sun dried tomato pesto (your favorite basil pesto blended with sun dried tomatoes)
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Place the bread ingredients into your bread machine in the order your bread machine requires. Select the dough cycle.
2. Once the cycle has completed turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and roll into an 8" x 12" rectangle. Spread pesto over the dough, leaving 1/4" on all sides. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
3. Starting at the short side roll the dough. Seal the seam and ends. Place the dough seam-side down on the parchment paper.
4. Let rise for 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
5. While the bread rises, preheat the oven and a baking stone to 425 degrees.
6. When the bread has doubled in size slide the parchment paper and bread onto the hot baking stone. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking stone and cool on a wire rack.
7. Slice when completely cooled.

Spring Quinoa Salad

 This salad was a bit of reprieve from the sugar, and the basily-lemony flavor is mouthwatering to recall! I feel like I haven't been cooking anything except baked goods and even those are few. 

I've been doing college visits, prepping for the SAT, and school stuff. But at least I took the SAT yesterday so that's done! 

I felt aweful for this girl. She drove to the wrong school for the test and only had twenty minutes to get to a school that's probably thirty minutes away from where we were. On top of that, she as a senior needed the score to get into some schools, so she couldn't wait for the May test. Hopefully she made it and could take the test.

Anyway, here's the recipe from Two Peas and their Pod.

Glen Miller - "In the Mood"

Ingredients:

 Dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad:
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small bunch asparagus, about 15 spears, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup frozen peas
1 avocado, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup chopped basil

Directions:

In a small bowl or medium jar, combine the dressing ingredients. Whisk to combine or shake with the jar lid on tight. Set aside.

Add water, quinoa, and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

While the quinoa is cooking, cook the asparagus. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the asparagus and fresh lemon juice. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, asparagus, peas, and avocado. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir until well coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the fresh basil and serve.

Simple Pesto

Easy dinner in under fifteen minutes? Look no further. 

Pesto with pasta is a three step meal:

1. Blend ingredients of pesto
2. Cook pasta
3. Mix

Even though it's easy, pesto- mainly because I despise basil and pine nuts make me sick- is not one of my favorite foods.

At least without loads of cheese and salt.

Luckily, however, it is a generally accepted practice to put cheese on pasta. Saved by the cheese.

Here's the super easy recipe from Food Network.
It makes about 1 cup.

"Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"preformed by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino cheese (Parmesan works as well)

Directions

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.

If freezing, transfer to an air-tight container and drizzle remaining oil over the top. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw and stir in cheese.

Pasta Primavera

 Wow, I'm getting hungry just looking at these photos.

I got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman.

 This was so good, but probably high in calories and fat because of the cream and pasta.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for cream, pasta, and cheese.

 

Musical fix:

I first heard it while "studying" watching this video

 

 

"Take On Me" a-ha

Ingredients

• 1 cup Bite-sized Broccoli Pieces (up To 1 1/2 Cups)
• 1/2 whole Onion, Diced Finely
• 3 cloves To 4 Cloves Garlic, Chopped Finely
• 2 whole Medium To Large Carrots, Sliced On The Bias (diagonally)
• 2 whole Medium Zucchini, Sliced On The Bias (diagonally)
• 1 whole Medium Yellow Squash (optional)
• 1 container (about 5 Oz.) White Button Or Baby Porcini Mushrooms, Roughly Sliced
• 1 whole Red Bell Pepper, Sliced Into Strips
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 pound Pasta (I Like Penne)
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• 1/4 cup Dry White Wine (up To 1/2 Cup), Optional (replace With Additional Broth If Not Using)
• 1/2 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 1 cup Whipping (heavy) Cream
• 1 cup Half-and-half
• 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 5 leaves Basil (or More To Taste), Plus Extra For Garnish
• 1/2 cup Frozen Peas

Directions

First, prep the vegetables. Chop the broccoli into bite-sized pieces, about 1 to 1 ½ cups worth. Dice half a yellow onion. Chop 3 to 4 cloves of garlic. Slice carrots on the bias (diagonally), and do the same for the zucchini and yellow squash. Roughly slice the mushrooms and slice the red pepper (seeded) into strips.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and garlic together and cook for a minute or two, until they start to turn translucent. Then throw in the broccoli. Stir, and add in the carrots.
Stir it around, and cook it for only a minute, tops. Transfer the mixture to a plate. Add in the red pepper strips to the skillet. Stir them around for a minute or so, then transfer them to the plate.
Add pasta to slightly salted boiling water and cook to al dente.
Add a tablespoon of butter to the skillet. Add squash and zucchini, cook for less than a minute, then transfer to plate. Cook mushrooms for a minute or two (add salt to taste), and again transfer to the plate.
FOR THE SAUCE
To make the sauce, pour ¼ to ½ cup dry white wine into the skillet (see note below). Add ½ cup low-sodium chicken broth, a tablespoon of butter and scrape the bottom of the skillet to pull up the flavor left behind by the veggie cooking. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the liquid starts to thicken.
Add 1 cup whipping cream and 1 cup half-and-half. Measure out ½ cup grated Parmesan; add to the skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste. Chiffonade 5 to 6 fresh basil leaves and add that to the sauce; stir.
Dump veggies and mushrooms into the sauce along with ½ cup frozen peas right out of the freezer. Add pasta al dente and stir. If the sauce seems a little thick, or if there doesn’t seem to be enough sauce, add a good splash of chicken broth and a little more half-and-half. Top with more Parmesan, salt, pepper, and basil to taste.