Creamy pesto noodles are one of my favorites, and typically I prefer to use pistachios to pine nuts. You can find my pistachio pesto recipe here. I decided to try go get in all those flavors here in a different way. Pistachios and olive oil coming in on the crusted salmon, and parmigiano reggiano and basil in the noodles. I notably did not use a lot of basil here, as I used what I had fresh from the garden, but you could certainly add a lot more! Garlic cooks into the roux we use as our sauce base along with salt & pepper to bring it all home. We get all the pesto ingredients deconstructed into this dish and let me tell ya, it. is. delicious.
The week I made this recipe was a week where I lived like a vision of health, green smoothies, veggie sautees, daily pilates… you get the drill. By the time Friday night rolled around I was ready for a splurge. I love meals like this that are rich and satisfy that carb craving, but use all whole and real ingredients. Homemade sauce always beats store bought, in both flavor and lack of additives and adding in a nice lean protein and some nuts helps keep you feeling full and of course brings in some nutrition to the meal. As always, I’ll keep this short as I know you’re here for the recipe, so let’s get to it!
Ingredients:
Recipe Notes:
2 salmon filets
2/3 cup pistachios, shelled
2 tsp mayo + more if needed
6-8 oz of spaghetti noodles
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
handful of basil leaves + more if desired
salt, pepper & evoo
If cooking for just two like I was, you will have extra sauce.. you can store in fridge for a few days to use again. It will not freeze well. Easily increase the servings to four by just adding extra salmon & pistachios and more noodles.
You can use regular grated parmesan if you have on hand. I prefer parmigiano reggiano as it is what I use for pesto which inspired this dish, but regular parmesan would be great!
The amount of spaghetti you make is really personal choice, we were starving while making this one up so made a full 8 oz for two, which is a very filling serving. Use a little less than 8 oz for a more moderate portion.
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450′.
Start a large pot of water to boil.
Lay salmon on a foil lined baking sheet, skin down. Spread a thin layer of mayo across the top. Process pistachios in a food processor until finely chopped and press into even layer on top of salmon. Use an olive oil mister or drizzle olive oil over top of salmon. If using unsalted pistachios, option to sprinkle a pinch of salt & pepper over each for taste.
Add noodles to boiling water and cook until al dente, every noodle is different so I encourage you to use package instructions or taste test until desired texture! Drain noodles when they are done and set aside in your strainer.
Add salmon to oven and cook 6-8 minutes until pistachios start to golden and toast on top. Remove from oven when done and set aside.
While noodles boil and salmon bakes start your sauce. In a small saucepan add minced garlic and butter over medium heat until melted. As soon as melted add in your flour and quickly whisk until an even paste forms. Pour in your milk and turn heat to high, whisking until fully combined. As soon as you start to boil, add in your parmesan cheese and turn heat to low, stirring in and allowing sauce to thicken. I used an immersion blender to add in basil, pinch of salt & pepper (add as much as you want of these 3 ingredients to taste). You could also just finely chop basil and stir in at end if you don’t want to blend.
Add cooked noodles back to their pot and pour in sauce slowly, stirring until noodles are evenly coated. Layer noodles in a bowl and top with salmon. Slice salmon if desired.
I would eat pasta every. single. day. if it didn’t mean an extra trip to the gym each time. Pasta is simply the best. These parmesan and lemon butter noodles are as simple as it gets, topped with even easier roasted shrimp coated in pesto sauce and finished off with roasted cherry tomatoes that burst in your mouth and add oh so much flavor. We’ll start this dish by roasting the tomatoes & shrimp, then boil noodles which will get tossed with reserve pasta water, fresh lemon juice, butter and some parmesan. Creamy without being too heavy. Flavorful but not overpowering the shrimp and tomatoes. The three together make for the tastiest combo!
I used a store bought pesto for this dish… as much as I love to make it, I usually stick to store bought unless pesto is the star of the dish. If you want to make a homemade version, this pistachio pesto would be fantastic, and is also super simple. As for the shrimp, I left the tail on as it allows the shrimp to hold moisture while cooking. You can absolutely remove the tails if you prefer. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t, honestly just depends on my mood! If you’ve been here before, you know I always encourage you to do your own thing where possible in a recipe. For the seasonings, if you love a little heat, add more red pepper flakes than called for. Start with a little salt and add to taste. Out of parsley? Skip it, or use basil instead. Make as many tomatoes as you want to eat, the limit doesn’t exist here. If you’ve got someone that’s not a shrimp fan, you could easily make some grilled chicken and cube, toss in pesto and add to this dish as well! I also like to keep things short and sweet unless it’s related to the dish, if you want to read about my life, I’ve got a separate section here for that. With that being said, let’s get to it!
Pasta Ingredients
Roasted Shrimp & Tomatoes Ingredients
8 oz. angel hair noodles
4 tbsp butter
Juice of half a lemon
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1+ tbsp parsley, dry or chopped
1+ tsp red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste.
Vine or cherry tomatoes (approx 1 handful)
1 tsp olive oil
10 oz. raw & thawed shrimp (300 g)
1/2 cup pesto
Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400′.
Add cherry tomatoes to center of a baking tray, I used a 9×9″, drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil. Roast for 10 minutes.
While cherry tomatoes are roasting toss your shrimp in a bowl with your pesto sauce to fully and evenly coat.
When tomatoes are a few minutes away from done start a medium to large pot of salted water to boil.
Remove pan from oven and add in shrimp all around the edges. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over shrimp & tomatoes and put back in oven for 8-10 more minutes. When finished remove pan from oven and set aside.
While shrimp cooks in oven add noodles to boiling water, making sure to stir to not allow any noodles to stick together. Cook about 5 minutes until al dente. ( I always recommend using directions on the pasta box for timing if you are unsure)!
Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain the rest.
Turn heat to low and add butter and noodles back to same pan. Stir until butter is fully melted and evenly stirred in. Stir in your lemon juice, reserved pasta water, parmesan cheese, parsley, red pepper flakes, about 2 tsp each of salt and pepper. Taste test and add more salt if desired.
Plate by adding noodles and spooning over some of your roasted tomatoes and pesto shrimp to plate.
These flour tortilla chips are so good and so easy! Although we’re not making the tortilla from scratch on this recipe, just baking up the chips yourself is a fun alternative to grocery store bought and a great way to use up excess tortillas in your house. The key here is to find fresh tortillas that are as small enough in diameter so your chips are a good size. The rest is easy peasy!
It is important to note that these aren’t as thin and crispy as store bought chips, the thickness of the tortilla will stay as is from pre-baking. These will still feel fluffy although crisp when eating. I love these just simply with some salsa or guacamole for a fresher tasting snack that has avoided deep frying at any point in time! I don’t provide quantities for the tortillas, because you can make as little or much as you want on this one. Just don’t make too much as these are best served fresh or within a couple days if stored in a sealed bag to avoid getting stale. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Small flour tortillas
Olive oil, approx a few tbsp.
Sea salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375′.
Cut each tortilla into fourths or eighths depending on how small tortillas are and how big you want chips to be. Easily stack multiple tortillas to cut more than one at a time.
Spread out the chips on a baking pan. You may need to use 2 baking pans, or just bake in batches if you’re making a lot.
Use a basting brush, or drizzle olive oil over tortillas and use your hands to evenly cover chips in a very thin layer of olive oil.
Sprinkle sea salt on top, however much you desire.
Bake approx. 8-14 minutes. Keep an eye on the chips and remove when you see some starting to get golden brown edging, depending on your oven and sheet being used as well as thickness of tortillas purchased this could take more or less time so it’s best to just keep a close eye. You can always taste test one and bake a couple more minutes if desired!
Sushi is probably what I would pick if I was given only one thing to eat for the rest of my life. It. is. the. best. Sure, there are lots of other things I absolutely love, but sushi is the one that I love the taste, and how I feel after just as equally. That is if you stay away from the overly fried and saucy rolls. Anyway, I know this isn’t exactly a sushi dish. In fact after my travels to Japan a couple years ago I’m hesitant to call anything other than sashimi or fish over rice true sushi… the rolls are really a pretty American thing. Even here in France, rolls are not very common, even though sushi is one of the most prevalent types of restaurants I see! However, unless you are a sushi chef or know where to buy the sushi grade fish, it’s not the easiest thing to make at home. Trust me, I’ve done it. I actually made what I would consider restaurant quality rolls just one time, but between finding the fish and getting the rice right it was an all day project… and honestly, who has got time for that?! That leads us here, to these cucumber rolls with shrimp and crab that kill that sushi craving but are super easy to put together.
I still added some sushi rice to these, which you could omit for easy, but it was an awesome layer and brings the roll flavors together, but is still way less carbs ratio wise than typical sushi! On top of the sushi rice I layer sliced avocado, crab stick, shrimp and spicy mayo with a little bit of soy sauce stirred in. This recipe calls for the sushi rice to be cooked, I advise using approximately 1/4 cup dry and cooking per instructions on your rice packaging. You will most likely need to stir in a little rice vinegar, salt & sugar, but since the rice is optional and not the star here, go with the package directions if you are making. As for the spicy mayo sauce, I provide amounts and instructions, but know that this sauce could easily be purchased at the grocery store if you have spicy mayo already on hand, or can be adjusted with less or more sriracha based on your level of heat desired!
Ingredients
Directions:
1 cucumber
1/2 cup cooked sushi rice
2 imitation crab sticks
10 cooked & peeled shrimp
1/2 avocado, sliced
2 tbsp mayo
2 tsp sriracha
2 tsp soy sauce
Slice cucumber in half long ways and scoop out seeds and soft center with spoon.
Press sushi rice into two cucumber boats.
Peel crab sticks into thin strips, they should come apart easily. You can slice if you’d prefer.
Layer avocado slices, crab and shrimp onto cucumber boats.
Mix together mayo, sriracha & soy sauce in a bowl and drizzle over top of cucumber boats.
ENJOY!
If you have any questions about this recipe, drop it in the comments below!
I am so excited to be sharing this Chicken a la Maryland recipe for so many reasons. For starters and most importantly it is absolutely heavenly tasting. It combines flavors you may not have put together before, like fried chicken in sautéed bananas, and it works in the best and most surprising way. It’s an easy recipe, but sure to impress, after all a version of it was served to the Titanic’s first class passengers. Which leads me to the historic rabbit hole I went down on this recipe which was so fun to learn about. As some of you may have read in prior posts, I recently purchased a book called “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Taste of France” by Carol Hilker which highlights many of F. Scott Fitzgeralds favorite dishes from his travels through France in the 1920’s. It’s been so fun to read for both inspiration and historical anecdotes.
All sources used for the research behind this post are cited at bottom of page.
In Hilker’s book her version of the recipe is named after character Nicole Diver from F. Scott Fitzgeralds Tender is the Night. In this book Diver lays on the beach while searching for a Chicken a la Maryland recipe and works to translate it into French. Hilker also notes that this recipe, which was a favorite of Fitzgerald, was featured in late famous French chef Auguste Escoffier’s cookbook Ma Cuisine. I couldn’t help but wonder after reading this excerpt, why the dish is called Chicken a la Maryland if popular in French cuisine and what more of the history behind it was. While I wasn’t able to answer all my questions I found some pretty fun facts that inspired me to create my own version of this recipe and write about my findings. Most websites credit the roots of this dish to Auguste Escoffier, an acclaimed French chef from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Wikipedia makes it sound as if the dish is originally rooted in Maryland. I looked high and low and while the exact origin is a little unclear, it seems that Escoffier was inspired by a traditional Maryland dish received credit due to his popular version in Ma Cuisine. This theory and origin confusion are further validated by an article I found from The New York Times archives, “When Escoffier fried chicken…” In the 1972 article written by Raymond A. Sokolov, he says “…at this stage in, time, it is hard to determine whether the French were drawn to something like this elaborately garnished and sauced dish because it was formal and pretty, or whether they took something simple and complicated it themselves.” (Quick side note, finding and using an archived NYT article for this research was so fun, as I just recently listened to an episode of NPR’s podcast “How I Built This” hosted by Guy Raz where Raz interviewed the founder of Captcha and Re-Captcha. Those words you type in to prove you aren’t a robot? They actually helped digitize the New York Times archives! I highly recommend listening to this episode just for fun)! A couple common and seemingly unanimous facts amongst my research are (1) that the naming of the this dish stems from the fact that Baltimore’s leading import of the time period was bananas, which are famously used as the garnish on any Chicken a la Maryland dish and (2) that a version of this dish was served on the lunch menu for the first class passengers of the Titanic. You can view the full (alleged) menu served on The Titanic, here. Okay, now let’s talk about why we’re all really here, the food itself. I found versions of this recipe that were oven baked, soaked in buttermilk before oven baking, pan frying, but most commonly pan frying and steaming at the same time by covering the pan while the chicken cooks in oil. This is the method that we’ll do today. You could easily choose to oven bake for a healthier option, but sometimes you just have to let taste trump macros and allow yourself to deep fry. You deserve it. As for the flavors itself, there are many iterations out there. Both the NYT article, and Wikipedia discuss that this dish has evolved globally over time. The core of this dish is a breaded chicken topped with a creamy white gravy, or more formally known as béchamel sauce, and sautéed bananas. Many versions of this recipe call for serving it with bacon, either on the side or top of the chicken. In Hilker’s book, she recommends serving with dijon mustard on the side. The NYT version calls for a tomato sauce in addition to the gravy as well as corn fritters. Pineapple sauté or fritters along with sweet corn and mashed potatoes were other additions or variations I read about. (All listed and cited within Wikipedia article previously linked to). For the version we’re going to make here, I took elements from many of the core flavor pallets and cooking methods and made some variations that I loved. We’re adding lots of herbs to the breading, including thyme, coriander, parsley, dill and cumin, as all of these pair well with bananas. While the gravy we’ll make and bananas provide lots of flavor, we’ll also make a honey mustard for dipping. This is a nod to Hilker’s suggestion to serve with dijon mustard on the side. I added honey because (1) I love honey mustard, (2) it tames the bite in the dijon, and (3) the sweetness complements the banana topping. I opted out of serving with any sort of potato or fritter, and chose to pair with a simple side salad, especially since I opted IN on the deep fry method, ha! The gravy is a pretty standard white sauce of butter, flour and milk used for the base of many creamy soups and pasta sauces, with a pinch of nutmeg added as in most bechamel sauces. For the salad I used mache, which is a leafy green native to the South of France. For those of you reading from the USA or elsewhere, any leafy green without a lot of crunch will work perfect such as spinach, massaged kale, spring mix or arugula. To bring in the bacon flavor used in some variations of this recipe I fried lardons (which is basically chopped bacon or pancetta) until crispy. Lastly I tossed the greens in a mustard vinaigrette. Since the salad isn’t the focus of the recipe here, I just used a store bought. You could find a recipe for any mustard vinaigrette online and use that too. As always, I encourage you to make this recipe your own and omit things such as mustard sauce if you don’t like mustard. If you are out of one of the spices listed, it won’t break the recipe, use what you have. I will encourage you on this one to put aside that “chicken and bananas???” thought in your head and give this a try though. It’s not a combination that may immediately sound the best but I am telling you it. is. amazing! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Let’s get to it!
Ingredients 2 servings
Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dill
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups vegetable oil (approx).
Béchamel
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper (black is fine too)
pinch of nutmeg
Honey Mustard (Optional):
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp dijon mustard
Bananas:
1 tbsp butter
1 banana
Salad (Optional): If you choose to pair with the same salad I did, which I do highly recommend as the flavors all complement each other so well with the main dish here are the quick ingredients and instructions. If not, skip on past this section!
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Mache (This is not readily available world wide, use kale, spinach, arugula or spring mix in its place)
Lardons (Or substitute with pancetta or crumbled bacon)
Mustard vinaigrette (I used a store bought)
Pan fry your lardons, pancetta or bacon until as crisp as desired. Remove to a paper towel to drain excess fat, crumble if necessary.
Toss desired amount of dressing with your greens and top with your cooked lardons.
Instructions
Preheat oven to low heat, about 200 F or 100 C.
In a small mixing bowl add your bread crumbs, cumin, dill, parsley, coriander, thyme and salt and stir until fully combined.
Pour breadcrumb mix out on one plate, the flour out on another plate, and in bowl whisk your two eggs well. You’ll want to keep these 3 dishes right next to each other on counter.
IF you are frying up any lardons/pancetta/bacon for the side salad do so in the skillet before moving to step 5. Fry per salad instructions, set aside and then use same skillet in next step.
Add your vegetable oil to a medium/large skillet and heat over medium heat.
While oil heats, slice chicken breasts in half, between top and bottom, in order to keep full shape but reduce thickness by half. Dredge each chicken breast slice into the flour until fully coated, through the egg until fully coated and then repeat back into the flour and egg, and finally adding to the breadcrumb plate and dredging through crumbs until fully coated.
Line a new plate with paper towels and get ready to start on chicken.
Place two of your chicken pieces into the oil and cover pan. After five minutes remove lid, flip chicken carefully using tongs and then re-cover for another 4-5 minutes. Breading should be golden brown. Remove chicken to plate lined with paper towel to cover and then work your second batch of chicken in the same manner. (If you can fit all four pieces in at once without them overlapping, go for it in one batch). Transfer chicken that is on paper towel to a baking sheet, add second batch of chicken to paper towel when done to soak up oil and then move to baking sheet with first batch of chicken. Put chicken in oven on low heat to keep warm and crisp while we finish the rest of the meal.
Slice your banana in diagonal cuts to get oval slices as pictured. Toss (or eat) the ends. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a small skillet over medium heat. (You can use same skillet as chicken if you want, just make sure to be careful disposing of hot oil and then wipe clean cautiously). Add banana slices to pan and cook a couple minutes on medium heat then reduce to low to keep warm.
In a small saucepan melt your 2 tbsp butter for bechamel sauce over low/medium heat. Once fully melted add in your flour and whisk quickly until an even paste is formed. Pour in milk, nutmeg, salt & pepper and turn heat to medium / high, whisking constantly until a low boil starts. Let bubble only about 15 seconds and then reduce heat to low and allow to thicken into a nice creamy texture. If you over boil it will thicken to much, but fret not.. whisking in a couple tbsp of milk will help.
Lastly in a small sauce bowl mix together dijon and honey for serving.
IF you are serving the salad, now is a great time to assemble and add to plate.
Remove chicken from oven, layer 2 pieces per plate (or only 1 if desired), drizzle bechamel over the chicken, top with sauteed bananas. Serve your honey mustard on the side.
ENJOY!
Sources:
Hilker, Carol. F. Scott Fitzgeralad’s Taste of France. Cico Books. 2016.
This recipe is an all time favorite of mine, brought over from my previous blog Simply Delish Eats. Risotto is much simpler to make than you may think though. While the timing and keeping an eye on the dish while cooking is a bit of a labor of love, it’s not technically difficult, I promise you can do this. One of the reasons that I decided to take the plunge last year on renaming and recreating a new website under the name Forks and Vines is I wanted to be able to go out of the boundaries of what you make consider “simple eats”. While quick easy dishes are a staple around here on days I feel lazy or have been busy, I also love dishes that are a little more complicated and decadent. This risotto is the perfect crossover, it’s a dish any skill level can accomplish, yet sure to really impress whoever you are feeding. And if it’s just for you, that is A-OK. Treat. Yo. Self.
Like any recipe I make, I always try to convey how you can make it your own. I know everyone’s flavor pallets are different. The crab flavor is pretty dominant in this dish. If you don’t love crab or have a seafood allergy, lower the quantity or omit entirely! I’ve made this while Whole Foods had a dungeness crab meat sale (often can be found pre shredded at the store too)! If it’s overly pricey, that could be another great reason to tone it down that night. As for the wine, all the alcohol cooks out, but if you have an aversion to cooking with wine, increase your chicken broth by 1 cup instead. The flavor will adjust slightly but it will come out just fine. If you don’t like mushrooms, you can skip those too. My feelings don’t get hurt if you make adjustments, in fact I’d love to hear in the comments any switch ups and how they worked for you! With that being said, I think this dish is absolutely perfect as is. It’s rich, is creamy, it’s cheesy, it’s crabby, it’s perfect with a glass of white wine, it’s everything I need on a treat yourself kind of night. Let’s get to it!
Ingredients
1/2 – 1/3 lb dungeness crab meat, shredded or chopped up
1 cup arborio rice
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine (I used a sauvignon blanc)
3-4 mushrooms thinly sliced
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
1 cup parmesan
Salt & Pepper to taste
This recipe makes 2-3 servings for main course or 4-6 as a side recipe. Full recipe is as pictured in a medium/large skillet.
Instructions
Add your 5 cups chicken broth to a sauce pan and turn on low / medium heat. We don’t want it to boil and steam out, just to be slightly warmed.
While chicken stock is warming add butter and finely chopped shallots to a larger skillet over medium heat. Saute for a couple minutes and then add sliced mushroom and minced garlic. Continue to saute over medium heat until shallots caramelize (become clearer) and mushrooms soften.
Add in your arborio rice, dry. Stir up for just a second so it is evenly coated and mixed with butter and veggies.
Add in your white wine and ladle one cup of the chicken broth into the skillet. Cover and reduce heat to low.
Stir occasionally and as rice soaks up the liquid add a little more of the broth at a time. This will take a while (20-30 minutes)… be patient! Allowing the arborio rice to slowly soak up all our wine and broth is what gives risotto that nice soft and creamy texture.
When you are down to about a cup or two of your broth go ahead and stir in the crab meat.
After you have transferred the last of your broth to the skillet add in your parmesan as well as some salt & pepper to taste. Keep over low – medium heat, uncovered at this point, stirring until all liquid is absorbed / evaporated and you have a nice creamy texture.
Yes, that’s right, I said overnight breakfast. You know what that means? You get to wake up, pop this in the oven & serve a great breakfast with zero morning time prep work. It is so easy to put this together the day or night before you want to bake it and get all your prep work and dishes out of the way so you can just enjoy your morning. I particularly love this recipe for holiday mornings. You’ve got enough to worry about on holidays like focusing on your main meal of the day and spending time with family so anything you can do the day before is always helpful! I also love overnight breakfasts because let’s be honest, if you’re having any sort of party out or at your house, a stress free comfort food breakfast will be real nice to wake up to, especially if you had one too many cocktails the night before. Whatever your occasion this is sure to be a family favorite…. I mean what’s not to love about cheesy egg & potato all combined together?!
Ingredients
12 eggs
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 lb ground pork breakfast sausge
1 small white or yellow onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
30 oz. bag frozen shredded hash browns
2 cups shredded cheddar
Salt & Pepper
Instructions
Add your breakfast sausage to a skillet and cook over medium heat. When there is only a little pink showing left in the meat add in your diced onion & pepper and continue to saute until meat is fully cooked and vegetables soften up a little. (If you hate onion or pepper, leave them out – it will turn out just fine).
While meat & veggies are cooking add your eggs to a large mixing bowl and whisk until combined. You can use a stand mixer or whisk by hand.
Add whipping cream and about a tsp. each of salt & pepper to your eggs and whisk again.
Add cooked meat/veggie mix into egg mixture and stir everything together.
Add in 1 + 1/3 cup of shredded cheddar & your 30 oz. bag of hash browns. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
Grease / spray a 9 x 13″ baking dish and pour your breakfast mix in, spreading evenly through the pan. Sprinkle remaining 2/3 cup of cheddar on top.
Cover baking dish in foil, saran wrap, or a lid and set in the fridge, leave overnight.
Preheat oven to 350′ one hour before you are ready to eat. Bake casserole (uncovered) 45-60 minutes. (Check at 45 to see if done or if it looks like it needs a few more minutes, this will cook slightly differently depending on your oven)!. Remove from oven, and let stand for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving to allow everything to cool and set.
If you are a goat cheese fan, it is such a simple and easy way to add some great flavor and soft texture to your bruschetta. A restaurant in California wine country that I used to frequent with my family served a goat cheese bruschetta that we ordered every time we went because we just couldn’t get enough. I love re-creating favorites from restaurants to share with you. Eating out is not only something I love to do socially, but I love to gather inspiration, flavor combinations I love and bring those home to my kitchen. This restaurant has sadly since closed, which makes me even happier to have this version here to share.
The key to good bruschetta is using good bread & tomatoes. I used a variety pack of small tomatoes to get the fun color assortment but that is totally not necessary, any good vine tomato, plum tomato or cherry tomatoes would work! I won’t get specific with quantities here either, I’ll leave it up to you on how much you want to make as it’s pretty adjustable based on your palate. Like goat cheese just a little? Spread a thinner layer. Love it? Lay it on thick. You get the gist.
Ingredients
French baguette, from your grocery store bakery
Soft goat cheese
Tomatoes
Basil leaves (optional)
Salt & Pepper
Olive oil
Directions
Preheat your oven on high broil setting.
Slice baguette (as many slices as you want to make) into pieces about 1/4-1/2″ thick, set on a baking sheet.
Dice up tomatoes. Hint: after dicing them up pour into a colander over the sink and shake up a bit to get rid of all the extra juice.
If you want to add basil finely chop up a little bit.
Add tomato, herbs, a tsp splash of olive oil, salt & pepper to a bowl and stir up. Put in the fridge to chill while you broil the bread.
Add bread to oven and broil for only 2-3 minutes!
Remove from oven, spread goat cheese on each slice, and add a spoonful of the tomato mix to each slice.
It has been a slow week around here in the kitchen as I’ve been busy with lots of home update projects here in France. (For those of you that are new, my husband and I packed up from California a few months ago for an expat opportunity in Montpellier, France)! Our moving container should arrive soon so I’ve been busy painting rooms while they are still empty, and even built a custom kitchen table top (ahem… the wood you see behind the plate up there..)!!! I’m sure I’ll share some more pictures of that soon, but for now we need to get to this recipe because it. is. so. good.
I’ve been experimenting a lot over the last few weeks quick and easy soy sauce based sauces that add so much flavor goodness. This easy four ingredient teriyaki sauce, made with honey instead of your typical brown sugar is easy, so good and can probably be whipped up with things you already have on hand. While the teriyaki sauce is both quick and simple, the same cannot be said for the caramelized onion and pineapple topping. It is simple, but not quick. We’ll spend at least 20 minutes on this as caramelizing onions takes time. In this recipe we don’t spend the full hour plus that you can getting extremely brown caramelized onion, but enough time that they turn a soft brown and the sugar starts to come out creating a wonderful but not overpowering flavor to pair with our pineapple. If you don’t have the time for this, you can simply stick to the teriyaki shrimp, and maybe even just cook the pineapple which is less time consuming and omit the onion, I’ll leave that up to you! Lastly, for this two person recipe, I used 2/3 pound of shrimp and about 1 cup uncooked white rice. This recipe calls for cooked as I don’t love providing instructions on the rice, follow the instructions on the rice, packaging, use your rice cooker, or whatever your preferred method. Rice is finicky depending on the exact kind you’re using, heat of your stove, etc. I tend to stick to the general rule of thumb to put 1 part rice to 1.5 part water in a sauce pan with a generous pinch of salt, bring to a boil and immediately turn to low heat and cover until ready to serve. As for the amount of rice, I’d go anywhere between 1/2 cup to 1 cup dry. I made a full cup, I had leftovers, my husband did not. You can always save un-plated white rice in the refrigerator, so it never hurts to make more than needed.
I provide all this detail before we get started as I am such a firm believer in making the recipe your own. We all have different appetites, taste buds, etc. I have plenty of onion haters in my life (honestly not sure how this is possible, but I know enough of them to know it is). I know some days I could eat copious amounts of rice and other days it’s just way too filling. I love sharing recipes with y’all, and will usually stick to exact amounts where I feel needed and let you know what is optional or adjustable based on preference. With all that being said, let’s get to it!
Start by getting your rice cooking, when finished set to low heat or turn off and cover until ready to serve.
Make sure all ingredients are chopped as needed and ready to go.
In a small bowl add soy sauce, water, honey and ginger. Stir until evenly combined and set aside until ready to use.
If you haven’t yet, remove tails from your shrimp and season with salt and pepper.
Add one tbsp of olive oil to a medium/large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds to a minute until fragrant. Add shrimp to skillet and cook a couple minutes each side until pink. Remove from pan and set aside on a plate. Wipe pan clean, if desired.
IF you are making the caramelized onion and pineapple topping, we’ll make that next. If not skip ahead to step 7. In the same pan you used for shrimp, turn to low/medium heat and add butter and 1 tsp of olive oil to pan. When butter is melted add in diced onion and cook about 15 minutes, stirring fairly constantly. They key here is low and slow, if we turn the heat up or try to rush this step the onions will crisp. We want them to soften and allow the natural sugar and caramel color to come out. After 15 minutes add in pineapple and cook another 5-10 minutes until pineapple is softened to desired texture. Pour mixture into a bowl and set aside, no need to wipe pan clean. Let any leftover juices or oil go right into the sauce!
Turn pan up to medium/high and pour in teriyaki sauce. Bring to a simmer and stir constantly until sauce starts to thicken. Depending on heat of your stove this could take up to a few minutes. As soon as its thickening, reduce heat to low and add shrimp back into sauce pan and stir to coat.
Plate by adding desired amount of white rice to your plate, topping with teriyaki shrimp and then if desired layer on cilantro and pineapple/onion sauce.
Easy, healthy, delicious and doubles as either breakfast or dinner — does it get any better than that? This dish starts of with browning sausage and then pan frying potatoes, asparagus and later adding in diced onion and mushrooms to get the perfect texture and flavor. Topped with a fried egg for added protein and to get that yolk drizzle all over the veggies, because what’s better than adding egg yolk to a meal??? Okay, maybe there are better things but it is really, really good. Serve morning or night for a healthy but still fulfilling and flavor packed meal. Or do what I did what I did and make extra for dinner so that you can have dinner leftovers for breakfast, you’ll need to do is fry up a fresh egg in the morning!
INGREDIENTS
MAKE IT YOUR OWN
1/2 lb ground sausage
8-10 stalks asparagus
1 yukon gold potato
1/8 white or yellow onion
4 large mushrooms or 1 cup slices
2 eggs
2 tbsp olive oil + more if needed
salt and pepper
1 tbsp parsley, optional
hot sauce, optional
So often sticking to an exact recipe isn’t necessary, in these instances I always like to share how you can adjust and get similar results!
This recipe makes 2 servings, easily adjust to your needs.
Use any kind of sausage you want, add more if desired for a more hearty meal. Or add another egg!
Omit certain veggies or adjust quantities to your liking.
I love the flavor of parsley with this, but omit or use your favorite seasoning!
Hot sauce optional for flavor.
INSTRUCTIONS
Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat when fully cooked set aside on a plate but leave any grease in pan.
While sausage cooks chop your vegetables. Asparagus into 1-1 1/2 inch stalks, potato sliced into 1/4 or narrower wedges/slices, onion diced and mushrooms into narrow slices.
Add 2 tbsp olive oil to pan with leftover sausage grease and add in asparagus and potato, pinch of salt & pepper and your parsley if using. Keep over medium high heat continuously stirring. After 5 minutes add diced onion to pan and continue stirring. After another 5 minutes add sliced mushroom. If you need another small drizzle of olive oil at this point (I did), add another teaspoon or so. You want there to be enough in bottom of pan to slightly coat mushrooms as you keep stirring. Cook another 5 minutes or until mushrooms brown and soften.
Turn skillet heat down to low and stir back in sausage.
In a separate skillet fry your eggs. I find best to heat a small splash of olive oil over medium high heat and wait until pan is hot. Add eggs and flip after about 30 seconds and let cook another 30 seconds. (Everyone likes there eggs a little different, I prefer nice and yolky so a quick sear in a hot pan on either side does the trick).
Divide veggie/sausage mix on to plates, top with fried egg and drizzle hot sauce if desired. Add another pinch of salt and pepper for flavor if desired as well.
