Pesto Quinoa Salad

I'm constantly on the hunt for recipes that I can make and bring to social events. I found this pesto quinoa salad recipe and modified it a bit.  It's often hard to find something tasty, IC-approved, and normal to bring to a gathering.  This salad fits the bill even if it is a little hippie/girly.  I say this because all of the females raved, and my dad said, "Good thing I love you, because I do NOT like your salad." Just proves you can't please everyone! However, I did get two requests for this recipe, so I call it a success.  And might I add that I love having it in the fridge for a quick, no prep (once it's made!) lunch.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do! 

Pesto Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1 can chickpeas 

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

1 cucumber (leave on the side if you have picky, non-cucumber-loving guests)

1 cup crumbled feta cheese 

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1 cup pesto 

Directions:

1. Rinse quinoa (this evidently makes it taste less bitter.) Put quinoa in medium saucepan and cover with 2 cups water.  Heat on stove over medium high heat. When it comes to a boil, turn heat to low, cover, and let simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and fluff with a fork (all water should be absorbed. If it is not, return to heat, cover, and cook a few more minutes.) Put quinoa in large bowl and stick in fridge to cool.

2. Chop up peppers and cucumber. 

3. Combine all ingredients and store in fridge for a few hours to chill, serve, and enjoy! 

Notes: if you want a bright green salad, follow all the previous steps, but do not mix in the pesto.  Prepare the pesto and mix into the salad right before serving.  Once the pesto sits on the salad for a few hours, the salad turns a brown-ish color... The flavors come together and it tastes better (in my opinion,) but it doesn't look as appealing. You make the call! 

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Summer is wrapping up and that means it was time to prune the basil plants for the last time this year.  I was bummed to learn that my basil won't come back next year.  Temps here don't get too cold, so I thought it might have a chance, but no such luck.  After doing some research, I found that basil won't live in temps under 50 degrees F.  Bummer.  We have predicted lows in the mid 40's this week (yay!), so it was time to remove all the leaves and make some pesto.

I've written about my pesto, and, now that I am looking back, I am embarrassed of the picture of the boxed/store-bought basil!  I will be sure to update that next year. Now that my husband and I have grown basil, I realize how much better it tastes and how expensive store-bought is! I am new to the gardening thing, but I was very impressed and pleased with our basil plants.  They were surprisingly easy to grow and produced a ton of basil.  Anyways.... after pruning all the leaves off my 3 plants, I had 40 cups of basil (yep, not a typo, 40 cups.) (And yes, I did prune them throughout the summer!)  I don't know what all to do with basil, but I love pesto, so I just made a TON of pesto and froze it all in little baggies.  I have no idea if we will be able to eat all of that this winter, but I figured we might as well get started.  I made a chicken pesto pizza that turned out to be delicious!  I have blogged about how much I love pizza in the past, and this is definitely a new favorite for us!  

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Ingredients:

Pizza dough (I made mine in the bread machine- do whatever works for you.. a wheat crust is super good!)

2 chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp minced fresh garlic

1/3 c. pesto 

2 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Roll out/stretch/toss etc. dough onto a pizza pan

2. Spread pesto over dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border for crust

3. Heat skillet, olive oil, and garlic over medium heat.  Add chicken and cook until it is cooked through (no longer pink inside)- about 5 minutes

4. Top pizza with chicken 

5. Spread cheeses over top

6. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22 minutes.

Pesto

You've probably heard it before, but pesto is an IC staple. Some of my favorite ways to enjoy it is on pasta, as pizza sauce, combined with cream cheese for a dip/spread, and simply as a way to add a punch of flavor to any dish.

What I love about pesto is that it has a nice bold punch of flavor, yet is completely IC-safe. This is a rarity, and I love that it is something to safely enjoy in a variety of ways.

The recipe makes quite a bit of pesto- around 1 and a half cups.  I usually make it and use it to top pasta for dinner that evening. I then freeze the remaining pesto in 1/4 - 1/2 cup batches as this is what I usually need for any recipe. 

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (fresh seems to be safest for me, but I've heard other people say that they prefer the canned)

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1. Spread pine nuts on a cookies sheet and place in the oven at 375 degrees until golden, about 5-10 minutes. Make sure to stir them at least once during the cooking process to ensure that they don't get too brown on one side.
2. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth!

Pesto Grilled Cheese

Pesto is one of my favorite ic-friendly sauces.  I have it on pasta and pizza often, but last night I decided to try it on a grilled cheese.  I'm happy to report that it was delicious.  What is better than gooey melted cheese, a bold punch of pesto, and bread that is soft on the inside and buttery crunchy goodness on the outside? Not much.  The sandwich was enough by itself for my dinner, but the hubs had some canned soup with his.  All-in-all, this is something I will be making again soon!

Recipe makes 2 sandwiches

4 slices white bread 

butter

1/4 cup pesto

3 slices white american cheese

3 slices cheddar cheese

4 Tbl Parmesan cheese 

1. Heat skillet to medium heat

2. Spread butter over one side of bread.  Place butter side down in the pan.  Spread pesto, top with 1/2 of cheeses, spread more pesto, top with another slice of bread, spread top of sandwich with butter.

3. Cook until toasty, flip sandwich and cook until that side is toasty.  

4. Repeat for the other sandwich and enjoy!