Grilled Garlic-Lime Chicken on Greens and Pasta with Pesto
HIGH FIVE. Oh yeah.
I got W to eat broccoli. And not only eat it – LOVE IT. One small step for W, one giant leap for motherkind.
A few days ago I made a pot of pasta fazool (must have been for lunch) and W walked in, looked at it, and said: “what! I don’t eat vegetables!” and stomped outside. Five minutes later I could hear him out on the patio, back arched, yelling at the sky: “I need some SUGAR!!”
Great.
So I became determined to get him to eat broccoli. He’s fine with spinach, so long as it’s cooked and on pizza or mixed into meatballs or some such. Peas get snuck in if they’re mixed with rice, but mostly he tries to eat around them. It’s not the green he’s against per se – he loves pesto – it’s the vegetableness of things like asparagus and broccoli. He won’t touch raw veg like sugar snap peas or (god forbid) leafy green salads.
So I focused on the loving of the pesto. Whizzed broccoli might look a lot like pesto. And taste like it too, if I added a handful of fresh basil leaves, garlic and Parmesan. I went to the Crossroads market this morning and picked me up some broccoli and basil. I roasted it, rather than steam or boil it and leave it soggy while losing nutrients. (Roasting, by the way, is by far my favourite way to cook broccoli. It morphs it into something without that cabbagey bitterness – it’s sweeter, nuttier, intense, with crispy bits.) I wish I had thought of roasting a couple garlic cloves along with it, just to take the edge off; we all have some serious garlic breath tonight. Not that there’s any risk of making out or anything. (Garlic breath might facilitate that anyway, if you ask Mike.)
When it was done and cooled a bit, I mulched it in the food processor with a handful of basil (8 leaves or so?), a small clove of garlic, a pinch of coarse salt, and a good grating of Parmesan cheese. (No pine nuts.) Then with the motor running, I dribbled in some olive oil. Damn. I had to keep myself from eating it all off the spatula as I scraped down the sides of the bowl.
Meanwhile, a pot of whole wheat rotini was boiling, and Mike was grilling chicken – something I haven’t had in a very long time. I made a quick vinaigrette/marinade out of lime juice, olive oil, crushed garlic and a drizzle of honey. Half went over the chicken to marinate for an hour or so, and the rest was saved to toss with greens. The greens were dressed and set on plates as a bed for the grilled chicken. There are a lot of things you could add to this salad to make it more interesting, but I was focused on the pesto.
I am totally trying this again with asparagus. I may just go buy a caseload of whole wheat rotini, broccoli, basil and Parmesan and just settle in for the summer. We’ll call it Willem chow. (I know it doesn’t look like much, but there was a lot of broccoli in there, and we (mostly he) polished it off with only about 1/4 cup of pesto left over for tomorrow.)
In other news, my kitchen was featured on the Kitchn today! Check it out.
One Year Ago: Jambalaya
[print_link]
Am loving the idea of broccoli pesto – sounds yummy! As for this weekend’s food plans, I’m due to have a baby any minute so I’m just busy making meals to get us through the next few crazy weeks – muffins, soup, curried chicken etc. My mom is coming out shortly after the baby is born so I also hope that she will help out with some freezer meals. Dinner tonight was good but not exciting – chicken fajitas. Dinner last night was fantastic – I made a modified version of those Greek lamb burgers that you made awhile back. I used ground chicken and shaped them into little logs – all to make them fit better into the pita shells. Topped them with the feta dip and tzatziki sauce from the Greek gals at the farmer’s market and we were in pita heaven!
On another note, do you know where I could buy some sourdough starter here in Calgary? I missed out on the batches that you were giving away and I know that I could make some of my own but at this point in my pregnancy, it just seems like it might be easier to buy some (but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). I tried to make that Amish friendship bread when I was about 8 months pregnant and the sight/smell of it was too much for me to handle so I’m thinking that it might just be easier to buy it. Thanks!
that sounds sooo yummie!!
my plans for the weekend include a trip to ottawa and montreal! yay! so im sure poutine will be involved. yum. but as for tonight we fired up the bbq and had some good old steak and corn. yum!
by the way… that looks like a lovely blender!
dinner last nite: bag of frozen green veg mix on top of minute brown rice….doesnt sound like much, but it was GREAT!
thanks for your ongoing posts….most enjoyable
happy mothers day to you julie 🙂
Dinner last nite was breaded cutlets, topped with three kinds of cheese and baked in a pan of chunky tomatoes,with Italian spices. Served over whole wheat pasta. Then fresh veggies and dip on the side.
Am wondering, Julie, if you mailed me that SD starter or it got lost in your fridge. When my boys were small I always wizzed veggies in the blender and added to muffins, cakes, gravy etc. Frozen peas were tossed onto hot soup to cool it down. There’s all kinds of tricks to sneak into children’s food.
Dinner last night was leftover Chinese… nothing exciting but it cleared some space the fridge.
Enjoying the posts!
wow that looks like the cadillac of blenders! i dont know what i would do with it if i won?!!
last night for dinner was roasted chicken thighs, basmati rice and carrots and broccoli..i LOVE it roasted too, so much more flavour like you say julie!
have a happy mothers day julie and followers! 🙂
oh my goodness, i can just picture your w standing outside yelling for sugar!!
jenn
That looks like the blender we need!
We had pozole soup tonight (the real Mexican thing with pasilla peppers, oregano and lots of lime juice). This soup is easy to make, the kids love it and you get everything, including the salad, in one bowl!
Cheers!
Hi Julie,
Love your blog, your sense of humour always cracks me up! Dinner plans include a prime rib roast…
But for breakfast(?) I’m thinking of creating a fresh mango, coconut milk smoothie over tapioca…sort of a smoothie/bubble tea…
Hey Julie,
I have to start by saying that I tried the ginger cookies out of ‘One smart cookie’ tonight – yummy! We were amazed that such little fat could produce such delicious cookies!
My biggest food plan this weekend is the suprise dinner my eldest daughter (12!) is planning for Sunday night!
Congratulations! My baby boy is 15 and I still celebrate when I can get him to add a new vegetable to his life.
We had Alberta pork for dinner!
Food plans – yes, cooking breakfast on Saturday a.m. at our church for about 100 people. I’ll be up (way too early) baking cinnamon buns and muffins for the breakfast. Yum, fresh cinnamon buns, guess that is worth getting up early for!
Food plans this weekend? Yeah, none. I’m on a Mother’s Day strike.
Last night, as part of the strike, we ate whatever I fished out of the deep freeze. The kids had yummy mac & cheese I made in the slow cooker a while ago. It had some ham and red pepper in there too. My husband and I had a chickpea, spinach and tomato concoction served over whole wheat couscous.
My 4 yr old son has never been an eating enthusiast but loves smoothies. I’ve concealed all sorts of fruit & veg & grains in his smoothies. So the blender has blasted out alot of nutritious smoothies over the past few years. Before that, it blasted out alot of pureed baby food. Before that, it blasted out alot of margaritas. Our blender started sounding really weird at smoothie times this week. It smells hot and it is getting a hairline crack underneath the blade. That sure is a nice blender you have there at your house, Julie!
Your dinner sounds delicious-will be making this during the week, the pesto will be a much appreciated “make ahead”. However, dinner tomorrow will be a pot luck for a birthday party for a friend, my contribution will be a chocolate trifle with chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, two types of cream with a little coffee liquour and toasted almonds. Got the recipe from a wonderful cookbook now out of print-“Still Nuts about Chocolate” from the ladies who are responsible for the Lazy Gourmet restaurant in Vancouver, BC.
Rebecca – you totally didn’t miss out, I just haven’t finished delivering it all yet! I was splitting and feeding it so much I was worried that I was killing it.. I’m still sharing it around – just delivered some yesterday and today! Sorry if you wound up last on my list!
Shall I wait until post-baby to bring some by?
Hey Julie,
Well last night was a bean salad with celery, carrots, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno,and red pepper in a balsamic vinaigrette. yum. Also a piece of toast, with cheese and tomato. 🙂
Awesome use of brocolli! Sounds yummy too. I have been blessed with a 3 year old that will eat veggies though…for now haha. He loves cesear salad, snap peas, corn(2 cobs last night and asked for more)etc. I have a bag of shitake mushrooms given to me by a friend who grew them…I plan to make a mushroom risotto tomorrow night! Had a look at your kitchen on that site its beautiful julie!
Sugar!!!!!!!
I love that story about W yelling at the sky. I think i’ve yelled “I need SuGAR!!” at the sky a few times…
My food plans for the weekend involve making sourdough pancakes- they have changed my life. They are so much better than regular pancakes (which to me always taste strangely burnt and remind me of those horrible pancake breakfast pancakes- raw in the middle while blackened on the outside). Other plans include drinking many cups of coffee, not having to go anywhere, and gardening if it stops raining!
Ahhhh creativity when it comes to feeding small children^^ Good one Julie!!
My weekend food plans involve a massive cooking bonanza tomorrow night, for my dear mother on Sunday!! On the menu? I decided on a fancy dinner, and so I think a BBQed lobster, Asian style stir fried vegetables, a pesto salad and a chocolate cake with fluffy frosting to top it off^^
Cheers! Have an excellent weekend!
Dinner last night(Thursday) was rosemary maple spare ribs (thanks Julie), peas and crusty buns.
Dinner last night was veggie burgers made from black beans, bread crumbs, a bit of mayo, cumin,oregano,and cilantro all whizzed together in the food processor. I fried them in a bit of canola and served them in sesame buns with salsa on them. Quite delicious! Would love to have had a margarita but alas, no blender! (Shameless aren’t I?) Your kitchen is lovely.
I keep wanting to try roasting brocoli (I love brocoli in any form, so far). Now I’ve got one more reason to want to try it — that pesto looks yummy!
For Mother’s Day I am going to my daughter’s, and her hubby is barbequing steaks. It is a friend’s 50th birthday Sunday, and she has no relatives in town, so we are celebrating her birthday with her.
I do not have a blender or a food processor, so would love to win this week!
Happy Mother’s Day Julie. Loved the article about your kitchen!
Your sense of humour is contagious. I find myself laughing at the responses, as well as your commentaries.
Ahhhh I love the small people’s ‘fear’ of veggies! Color? No… Texture? No…. Yet will gnaw on an entire box of Crayolas at the drop of a hat….funny creatures they are. Mine eats snap peas and cucumber and that’s it.
I read the Kitchn piece – I think it turned out amazing and your kitchen looks very homey-well-used-loved and that’s the best kind. I love the table/bench and especially one that has meaning behind it – even better!
Weekend food plans – last night was homemade pizza night (always good) and tonight some crab cakes as I have some crab meat in my freezer which needs to be used. Please don’t enter me into this week’s contest – I could not think of parting with my cheap, cracked, leaking blender at this time (plus I’ve been a previous winner).
Happy Mother’s Day everyone!
That’s awesome W was into the brocoli! I’ve got 2 little dude who (thank heavens) eat and love all veggies! Cooked, raw, grilled, roasted, they are great about eating them! I don’t know how I became so lucky!
As for something special for the weekend, my brother is hosting Mothers day tomorrow so I’m sure he’ll do something lovely! He always does! He’s a great cook, he tries new things and I’m always excited to be invited over to his place for dinner!
C.
Dinner last night was just a salad thrown together from assorted things I found in the fridge: lettuce, cucumber, red pepper, olives and a pickled egg (which I make every year to use up the leftover easter eggs). All covered with Annie’s Goddess dressing, which is amazing if you haven’t tried it. For the weekend, we’re having a Mother’s Day brunch here and I think we’re going to try lemon ricotta pancakes. I’ve never tried them before, but I have a vat of ricotta in my fridge and they sound so yummy!
hey you!
nice job on the kitchn article..i am an ‘apartment therapy’ junkie and love love love it when us canadians are showcased.
your kitchen looks positively scrumptious
well done
I loved the kitchn tour article, wow your kitchen is about the same size as mine, and I complain that mine is small for a family of five!
By the way, my husband is really excited that we are sending maple products across Canada now 🙂 He said that he will do his best to finish up our kiosk, kitchen and office in order for me to do this full time. I can’t wait, I will have a bit more time to cook in my bigger kitchen in the kiosk, and better equipped as well, I plan to have a double Wolf oven, what do you recommend for baking pies, muffins? Also, we renovate churches right, well, we are finishing the decor of the kiosk/office/kitchen/B&B with original tin from a church on the ceilings, with the wood from old church benches we are the wainscoting, the floor will be some slate from the roof of an 300 year old church, doors are from a church and we have stain glass windows here in there as art. The stairs that go upstairs to the B & B room are from a presbytery. When our website is ready, I’ll put some photos in there as we think it will be awsome to reuse all of those antiquites.
By the way you look GREAT girl!
And I love that blender, but I vote that Pat from Ontario gets it 🙂
I will have to try that Broccoli Pesto, I confess, I never had regular Pesto yet…shees what a virgin!
Love love love your Blog.
MFO
I can’t wait to make that broccoli pesto!
I’m going to a “cinco de nueve” party. my friend’s mastery of Spanish is a bit spotty 🙂 then BBQ for mother’s day tomorrow. Low key and easy- marinated steaks, a sausage & cheese pinwheel, salad, maybe corn….. and now i’m thinking of making that pasta!
mmmmmmm, well now i want to make broccoli pesto. possibly for breakfast.
tonight my oldest friend and i are are going to Wild Ginger to check out the One Night in Bangkok event (an eight course fusion feast and over the top drag show) in honour of my 35th birthday. what says happy birthday more than drag queens and fusion cuisine?
oh and your kitchen just absolutely radiates warmth and happiness in those pictures.
It’s my friend’s brithday tonight, so we’re making Arnold Palmer cupcakes — basically, tea- and lemonade-flavoured. And since said party will run into the early hours of the morning, we’ll be hitting the 24-hour diner for some greasy breakfast; this one place has actual Montreal-style bagels.
I had dinner last night during a power outage, and ended up making grilled cheese on the gas stove by candlelight.
Gotta try that pesto!
Dinner last night was a solo event so, a big bowl of broccoli salad, some pepperoni and cheese and pickles….not too gourmet, but I do love that salad!
Weekend plans….house tour got cancelled so I may be reduced to housework on a rather gloomy Saturday…but there is promise for a sunny, family-filled Mother’s day – have a good one Julie!
And I really could use that blender – I have no food processor and my blender doesn’t quite ‘cut it’ – pun intended! 🙂
Kudos on the broccoli victory! V.smart.
Dinner last night was a chicken and cheese quesadilla (the chicken was pre cooked in a slow cooker with salsa poured over top and then frozen for reserve for busy nights). I already went for dinner on Thursday with my mom (to the Keg) -as neither of us like crowds. 😉
Weekends are generally pretty exciting, especially now that Chicago is experiencing the beginning of bbq weather again.
In preparation for any and all barbecues that we might take part in, I’m marinating some drumsticks in dill, lemon juice, and some red wine vinegar, have a bowl of homemade mustard soaking, and am preparing to make a giant batch of red cabbage slaw.
what a tasty idea for adults too! there’s a broccoli feta pasta recipe on the kitchn that’s a lot like this (which i saw their feature of YOU. awesome!)
dinner last night was navrattan korma with garlic naan. we had some garlicky breath going on here too, but it’s always worth it 🙂
You have totally turned me on to roasted veggies…especially cauliflower and broccoli. LOVE them. My kids like them, too (along with steamed swiss chard – halleluia!)
We had roasted pork tenderloin, steamed swiss chard with a smidge of chicken oxo sprinkled on it and…KD (not my favourite, but the kids requested it so I added some whole wheat macaroni and real cheese). Dinner tonight will be popcorn at the movies! Yum
Veggies are always a challenge with us too, the girls used to love broccoli, now not so much, we’ll have to give the pesto a go. Being childless for two whole days(!) we are cleaning out our leftovers – fettucine alfredo last night with some of your lower fat choc. chip cookies (I can’t stop making them). Tonight I’m thinking something super spicy!
Poor Willem…you tricking him and all ; )! Whatever it takes I say! I know a lot of men out there that need to be fooled in the kitchen in order to get something more than a steak and a potato in their bellies!
Speaking of steak, that is what the hubby had last night ( right from the farm..deelish ) on homemade bread with peas on the side ( he LOVES veg ! ) I on the other hand had the remains of an emourmous bowl of vietnamese rare beef noodle soup from lunch.
And plans for the weekend, providing I get all my planting done I was thinking of attempting that whole peroghy thing. Wish me luck.
Terri
Book Club at my house tonight. I chose “The Last Chinese Chef” by Nicole Mones — a must-read if you like Chinese food. I will be serving Chinese appetizers (purchased as I am too busy to make them!) with dips. I am also serving chocolate spring rolls — inspired by a dessert at Open Sesame — using Bernard Callebaut chocolate sauce in wonton wrappers and Nigella’s Choco-Hoto-Pots (not at all Asian, but I had told the Book Club about them, so….)
I love your kitchen! So warm and inviting.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Today is all about chocolate. I’m co-hosting a baby shower and we are doing an all chocolate theme. Yum!
love any kind of pesto, so I’m sure I would love the broccoli version.
As for food plans we’re going out and trying a new restaurant, so not sure what we’ll be eating.
I was on call at the hospital last night and Mr. Sub was all that was open, so a roasted chicken sub was my dinner (with some gummies to keep me awake during admissions).
Jessica
Love your kitchen – great interview too! Dinner last night was peanut noodles and leftover ribs.
That meal looks really good. Gonna try it for sure. I don’t think i’ve ever had pesto of any kind before. Looking forward to it.
Love the article about your kitchen. Very cool.
As for meals this weekend, we’re headed out of town for the day so it’ll be quick things on the road- a coffee at Starbucks no doubt (and compliments of you – thanks again!). Mother’s Day will be a nice steak dinner prepared by hubby and hopefully the boys will contribute. I’m looking forward to it.
Happy Mother’s Day Julie!
Going to make the broccoli pesto right now, but for my boyfriend! I bet you can get W to eat more vegetables than I can get my bf to.
Hoping to have the Mom’s over on Sunday for BBQ moose or bison (not sure which one it will be or how they will be done).
Love your blog- it’s inspired many meals and conversations for my family and friends.
Hi all,
Special food plans — well tomorrow (Sunday) we are going out of town to my in-laws place to spend mother’s day with my mother-in-law and father-in-law. FIL is recuperating from knee replacement surgery.
We’re expecting that lunch tomorrow will be fairly robust followed a few hours later by “Faspa” which is “low-German, Mennonite term used for a
typical late afternoon lunch that for generations
has been served in Mennonite homes. The lunch
consists of fresh, homemade buns, butter, jam,
coffee, and cheese. Faspa can also include fruit
preserves, sausage or other sliced meat, and
dessert. On a Sunday, Faspa would have been the
evening meal, and often relatives and friends would
stop over unannounced.”
In my in-laws case, it’s usually pretty white carbohydrate laden as there is often zwiebuck (white buns with a little “knob” on top – that is pulled off and eaten separately – to spread jam and butter on the rest of the bun) and dessert.
I guess these would qualify as special food plans as we don’t normally eat Faspa at our house, even though my husband is Mennonite.
Good job on the broccoli! One of my daughters will eat it plain or in a stir-fry but the other won’t come near it.
My sister and family are coming for a visit today so I’m thinking either some shrimp scampi on the bbq or out to Pho Kim. Tomorrow, I’m thinking Belgian waffles for lunch with the parent in laws.
Hope you have a very happy Mother’s Day!
Last night was movie night so I made mini burgers (sliders) with jack pepper cheese. I also made homemade onions rings with a beer batter. Not the healthiest meal but it was really really good.
Mother is another word for inventive 🙂 Happy “Smart” Mother’s Day!
Dinner last night was a pasta party of homemade sauce (a 16 qt. stainless kettle full) to celebrate the final night of my son-in-law in the US. He’s off to France today and leaving his bebé and our daughter for an extended visit. We’ve had a week of request dinners. Mexican (hard to come by in France), grilled steak, grilled chicken salad, salmon, lemon meringue pie and homemade sauce was the finale.
So fun to see your workspace. Nice article.
Would love a blender like that. My blender bit the dust months ago and I’ve been doing the stick blender thing. Nice for some jobs, not for others.
Cheers!
No special plans just a drive up to Rocky and take my mom out for lunch
Dinner last night was wonderful
1. Because I didn’t have to plan it
2. Nor did I have to make it
3. Because it was a pork tenderlion marinated in a mustard concoction and barbequed to perfection, a salad and steamed rice… simple but sublime
Happy Mothers Day
Oh my goodness I need a blender!!!!!
Food plans for the weekend are oddly very close to your broccoli epiphany! Leo was in the hospital with pneumonia for 2 days on IV’s and oxygen monitors. I have finally persuaded him that fruit and veggies are NECESSARY in his diet, and we are doing small samples this weekend. Fingers crossed, he’ll end up liking at least ONE fruit or vegetable…….
Oh my… those are my two favorites- broccoli and pesto! I am going to try this recipe tonight! Thank you!
Wow – broccoli is one of the only vegetables my son eats – he is known to stand on his chair to grab it off my daughter’s plate!
I declared it Mother’s Day Weekend yesterday so really have no plans to cook at all. The kids had toast for dinner last night. If only every night was that easy. We are making pizza tonight as every Saturday is “fun food” i.e. something the kids are very involved with making therefore will eat.
Love the pictures of your kitchen and love the blender!
Great broccoli idea. I’m going to try it on my husband who sides with W in the green department.Tonight we’re cookin’ brisket on the bbq for Steve’s class party – 96 on the list, but rsvp’s are few and far between (Tucson habit), so we’re cooking for 50 & keeping our fingers crossed we have enough. Brisket’s been on since 5 AM. Neighborhood smells amazing. Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow!
husband out on the town (gaucho restaurant) so kids and i ate WAFFLES, mixed berries and crispy bacon from sunterra.
no sign of s.w.i.n.e. coughs yet.
Dinner Friday night was at a backyard birthday party celebrating L’s big 4-0h. My contribution was black bean chili, southern cornbread and Spinach & Artichoke Dip from Grazing. Everyone was amazed that the dip was mayo-less and soooo good – it vanished in a blink along with the cornbread. Another winner, Thank you Julie!
My dinner plans this weekend are asparagus … any and many dishes with beautiful, fresh Ontario asparagus. Now, I believe that summer is coming.
Julie – No worries at all! I think that I was the last person to respond to the post about the sourdough starter give-away so it would make sense that I would be last on the list. I just thought that you had given it all away already but I’m thrilled to hear that there will still be some coming. Yes, we should probably wait until after the baby comes – I have a feeling that it will be here very soon. But, I’m looking forward to making sourdough bread while I’m on mat leave and can’t wait to get my hands on some starter! Thanks 🙂
Wow — that blender sounds fantastic. Let’s see — we are putting a roast lamb on the Rotisserie BBQ. tie on some rosemary and let it cook. That is for mother’s day since I don’t want to be in the kitchen at all. Tonight is quick sloppy joes and then off to the movies.
So fun reading your article in Kitchn. I loved seeing more of yours. We had homemade pizza with your dough recipe, of course! Awesome blender.
Whoa! Holy comments!!
We’re having a Mother’s Day bb-q today – veggie burgs for me and sausage for everyone else. I LOVE the idea of the broccoli pesto and the whole wheat rotini – I think my husband’s boys might eat it!
Broccoli pesto is a great idea!
We had grilled steak fajitas for dinner last night. Looking forward to using the leftovers to make a nice salad.
Your baked mac and cheese.. had my granddaughter overnight and its her fav.
Loooove your kitchen.
Hey Julie — Hope I am also on your list for sourdough starter. It’s been a very busy weekend so far! I had my mother-in-law for mother’s day tonight — grilled pork tenderloin, grilled Ontario asparagus (picked up during a downpour at the St. Jacob’s market this morning), etc, plus your wonderful coconut cake made into cupcakes. A wonderful meal. Tomorrow it’s off to my mom’s for Easter turkey, a few weeks late!
Mmmmmm margarita’s, crushed ice…sounds like the perfect ‘blend’ for the patio if it warms up.
Nothing exciting for dinner – cleaning out the fridge, so had leftover fritata with asparagus and spinach.
Just making your rosemary maple syrup spareribs – they smell awesome.
Happy Mother’s Day to you and all your followers.
We’re having my side of the family over for MDay dinner and are having Mexican food – torilla soup, chicken tosadas, refried beans, homemade nacho chips and a lemon pound cake with lemon creamcheese icing (it’s also my mom’s bday)……mmmmmm, just writing about it makes me hungry!
Would love to win the mixer/blender thingy…we like to make strawberry lemnade and could use a new machine like that to blend/chop everything up.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you mommas!
What an amazing looking dinner! And it’s always great to get the kids to eat broccoli!
I want to cook a tofu dish tomorrow…wish me luck! 🙂
What an amazing blender!!
Have a great Sunday!
looks yummy as usual! I am making french toast, a quiche, raspberry white chocolate muffin tops for mother’s day brunch tomorrow. Have a happy mom day too Julie!
Hello Julie!
Your lovely dinner sounds excellent! This is the food that I cook & like to eat! Lovely, pure ingredients beautifully combined together!
I have made broccoli pesto before too as like coriander pesto, walnut pesto, etc,…
MMMMMMMMM……
Last night’s dinner was at Gibby’s, in Montreal, in honour of my mother-in-law’s 60th birthday. I started out with their delicious bread (no need for butter – too yummy) and pickles, then moved onto the “Gibby’s salad.” A little scoop of sorbet to cleanse the palate, then came the main course of a petit filet mignon, asparagus, and a baked potato. I had a few spoonfuls of my husband’s totally fantastic croute de pomme au caramel (ooooooo caramel) for dessert along with my coffee.
YUM.
The blender would help me concoct the lower-calorie healthy smoothies I’ll need to make up for last night’s indulgence – or the margaritas I’d blend to make me happy and carefree and even MORE indulgent. Either way, really.
Last night’s dinner was roasted chicken, rice and grilled caesar salad.
Weekend plans – hopefully gardening on Sunday
Dinner last night was made by my 11 year old son – your maple rosemary ribs with coleslaw. Delicious. We will try the maple rosemary mixture on chicken wings next.
Dinner last night was leftover potato soup with creme fraiche, bacon & poblanos and garnished with gruyere. Of course, then things started to get out of hand. Running out of bread, we turned next to Fritos. At that point, it meal turned to Fritos accompanied by soup.
We had chicken burgers at a friends house last night with a yummy marinated veggie salad! Her Mom made a cheesecake topped with blueberries and strawberries for dessert which was delicious!!!
Happy Mothers Day Julie!
Last night it was my dad’s birthday, so we had grilled chicken with roasted potatoes and broccoli. I haven’t ever tried roasting broccoli, but it is my favourite way to make cauliflower.
We had guests last night and I fed them gingered carrot soup as a first course (I strained the soup so it came out more like broth and was delicious) then tiny potatoes, sesame green beans and baked, stuffed, crumb coated chicken breasts (really yummy). For dessert we had balsamic strawberries (hot) over vanilla ice cream accompanied by some florentine cookies. Not bad, if I do say so myself.
Happy Mother’s Day Julie!
We didn’t have any particular food plans for this weekend but given that it is the Mother’s Day weekend we did get to go for brunch today and I had the great deluxe continental buffet at the Delta in Kananaskis! It felt great to munch on fruit and a croissant and cheese cubes! I felt so good after – nice and light! (although the bacon smelled great!!!) Then I did crafts with the kids at the Delta’s little kids craft place – I tell you – all of you parents out there need to check this place out! It was fantastic and their line up for the May long weekend is unreal!
Dinner, the other night, I cheated and cooked up some frozen pizzas but I had been baking a few kinds of bread during the day so it was nice to have something quick and easy to pull out of the freezer!
Hope all you mommas out there had a great day today!
Nice idea with the broccoli! I love when healthy meets tasty. Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day Julie! What great shots of your kitchen. Thanks for sharing. Where did you get that salt pig?? I need one, and that is the coolest one I have ever seen. I also love that there is a bottle of Newcastle beside your sink!
This weekend’s plans ended up with me getting a minivan for Mother’s Day (and with my husband trying to mentally pretend he’s driving a Porsche…). No more public transit. Woo hoo.
Dinner tonight is what we call Barbaloin–butterflied pork tenderloin on the barbeque with a side of wheatberries, wild rice and quinoa that was languishing in my freezer. You have inspired us to try and eat from the freezer for a week.
ps–I hope you read this far into the comments!
Oh, I forgot to mention a great book about sneaking vegetables into kid’s food by Jessica Seinfeld (aka Jerry’s wife). It involves steaming and pureeing batches of butternut squash, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots and the like, then adding them into recipes in which they are undetectable.
Brownies are laced with some carrot and spinach puree (I’ll let you know…), grilled cheese sandwiches have a layer of sweet potato or butternut squash puree, and homemade mac and cheese is enriched with either squash or cauliflower puree in one version, or, even better, pureed white beans in another (she leaves a box of store-bought mac and cheese on the counter as she is cooking!).
I am fortunate that my kids eat a lot of vegetables, but I am going to try these just because every little bit counts. The book is called Deceptively Delicious and I found it at the library.
dinner last night. chips and salsa. oh its fun to be single! 🙂 what i did this wknd – shopping at the farmers market and a couple new books at chapters. i’m a mom to a dog, so i had to buy my own gifts.
Elizabeth – of course! I always read all my comments. Sometimes not in a timely manner, but still!
The salt pig is from my friend Nik – isn’t it cool? I think she carries them for her line of loose tea. And they’re cheap – like $20. (www.tnik.com)
Yes I’ve seen Jessica’s book. I do a lot of those things! I can’t believe pureed sweet potato (or is it squash?) would be undetectable in hot chocolate though…!
Dinner last night: cauliflower soup; bagette toasts rubbed with garlic and melted with cheese. I can taste the smoothies…..
Dinner last night was great, but mostly because of the company. After a week of being sick, I went out with a small group of friends (old and new) to a great Italian restaurant. I couldn’t breathe while eating because of my stuffed head, but it all tasted good.
Poached pears with Proscuitto, followed by pear and pecorino cheese ravioli. I wish I had the room to follow it up with the peach cobbler, but alas, I wasn’t well enough to be up to three courses.
Happy Belated Mother’s Day!
Thanks, Julie, for the broccoli pesto recipe. I have two boys, and getting them to eat veggies is like playing roulette – one day they love something, the next they hate it. Also, I am allergic to pine nuts, so very rarely get to eat pesto.
Dinner this weekend was supplied by the men. The ladies sat around and chatted while the guys cooked, prepared and served us burgers and salads. It went over quite well, we only had to remind them of a couple of things to do for meal prep, but being served first was a real treat. Happy Mother’s day to all you gals out there with kids, or with mothering hearts.
Pureed sweet potato in hot chocolate? There’s hope for Leo yet! I’ll get a vegetable in him for sure!
Oh broccoli pesto sounds so delicious! I wish I had a never ending supply of basil.