Basil to Pesto

Since moving my basil plants outside (thanks Kris), they have really flourished! With such an abundance of basil I figured a batch of pesto was in order. See my step by step process below or click here for a printable version of the recipe.

Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil laves

2 cloves garlic

1/3 cup pine nuts

½ cup Parmesan cheese

¼ tsp. Pepper

½ cup Olive Oil

1.  Add the fresh basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese and pepper to the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse until a coarse mixture forms.

2.  Turn the food processor on low and slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream.  Process until smooth.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: ¼ cup

Homemade                                                 Commercial

Calories: 368                                                   Calories: 290

Carbohydrates: 3 grams                                 Carbohydrates: 4 grams

Protein: 6 grams                                             Protein: 4 grams

Fat: 38 grams                                                  Fat: 29 grams

Sodium: 204 mgs.                                           Sodium: 960 mgs.

Note: Although fat content, and thus caloric content is higher in the homemade, the fat sources are heart healthy (nuts and olive oil) and sodium content in the homemade is significantly lower than in the commercial product.

  • The ingredients for pesto. Fresh basil( you have to agree this basil is pretty fresh!!), garlic, pine nuts ( other nuts such as walnuts or pecans can also be used),Parmesan cheese, pepper, and olive oil.
  • Ingredients ready to process
  • Processing
  • And…. Presto I have Pesto!

Let’s Salsa!

With an abundance of garden tomatoes I thought Salsa was in order. Here is a link to printable version of the recipe: Salsa Recipe.

Salsa
Ingredients
6 Roma or garden tomatoes cut into quarters
1 jalapeno, seeded and roughly chopped
½ large yellow or red onion peeled and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
Juice of lime
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/8 tsp. cumin
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until just chunky. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Refrigerate at least an hour to let the flavors meld.

Nutrition Information Comparison
Serving Size: ¼ cup
Homemade Salsa Bottled Salsa
Calories: 13 Calories: 20
Total Fat: 0 Total Fat: 0
Sodium: 18 mgs Sodium: 300 mgs.
Carbohydrates: 3 g Carbohydrates: 5 g
Protein: 0 Protein: 0

  • Ingredients for salsa: Tomatoes,onion, jalapeño pepper, garlic, lime, fresh cilantro, and cumin
  • Ingredients for salsa already to process
  • Salsa processed and ready to refrigerate.
  • I made so much(triple batch) of the salsa I decided to freeze some. I read that you can freeze salsa but that it is better if you cook it down some, so that it does not have so much liquid when it thaws.
  • The next day I packaged and froze it.

Diced Tomatoes

Since I am having a lot of great tomatoes this year I decided to put up some diced tomatoes.

Did you know that canned tomato products contain a lot of sodium? Two cups of canned diced tomatoes have around 840 mg sodium. Two cups of my diced tomatoes that I froze  have around 8 mgs of sodium.

  • These are washed and ready to start the process.






  • I put the tomatoes in boiling water and boiled  for 3 minutes . The skins should begin to crack. Then I put them in an ice bath for 3 minutes.






  • Then I peeled and diced them.






  • Then I packaged them in quart freezer bags, labeled them with name and date, and froze them for later use .

Homemade Tomato Ketchup

By CCH Dietitian Mona Van Wart – I loved making this tomato ketchup. I thought it was really fun to do and the end product was fantastic . As I was making the ketchup,it took me back to my childhood when I was a little girl helping my Mom process vegetables from our gardens.

I do not use ketchup as a condiment, but I do have a couple of favorite recipes of my mother’s that uses ketchup as the main ingredient for the sauce. I decided instead of freezing the ketchup as I originally had planned I would make those recipes and then portion and freeze the end products for my lunches.

A pdf version of the recipe can be found on the Health Eating page or by clicking here.

Ingredients

6 pounds tomatoes (about 12 large tomatoes)

½ cup brown sugar

¾ cup onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup balsamic vinegar (I chose the kind that had 0 mgs. Sodium)

Cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  2. Wash tomatoes.
  3. Halve the tomatoes, drizzle some olive oil over them, and place on 1-2 baking pans.
  4. Roast for 20 minutes or until they are soft and wrinkled looking, but not burnt.
  5. Let the tomatoes cool, and then transfer them to a blender or food processor and puree until they are smooth.  Process in small batches.
  6. In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, warm the sugar, keeping it moving with a spoon, for about a minute.
  7. Add the onion, garlic and the pureed roasted tomatoes.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes.
  8. Add the three kinds of vinegar and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or until reduced by two-thirds.  The ketchup should be thick.
  9. Remove from heat and season to taste with the cayenne pepper, if desired.
  10. Strain the ketchup through a mesh strainer into a glass or stainless steel bowl. 
  11. To cool the ketchup, fill a large stockpot about halfway with a mixture of half ice, half water, and submerge the container in the ice bath to chill.  The ice-water level should come most of the way up the outside of the container, but don’t let any water into the ketchup. 
  12. Stir the ketchup occasionally until the temperature reaches 70°F on a thermometer.
  13. Then remove the container from the ice bath, cover and transfer to the refrigerator where it will keep for 3-5 days.
  14. Ketchup can be frozen in small freezer bags or containers, or I read that it can be put in ice cube trays and then put them in a freezer container.

Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)

1 serving = 1 Tbsp       Calories: 8      Fat: 0 g      Carbs: 2 g      Protein: <1 g      Sodium: <1 g

(Comparison – Store bought ketchup)

1 serving = 1 Tbsp       Calories: 19      Fat: 0 g     Carbs: 4.5 g     Protein: <1 g     Sodium: 154 mgs

  • Tomatoes picked fresh from the garden and washed.
  • Ingredients for homemade ketchup.
  • Tomatoes cut in half and drizzled with olive oil.
  • Tomatoes roasting in the oven.
  • Processing the cooled tomatoes in the food processor until they are smooth.
  • Processed roasted tomatoes
  • Warming the sugar
  • Added garlic and onions and roasted tomatoes (not shown)
  • Added the three kinds of vinegar and simmered until it was the correct consistency for ketchup
  • Getting ready to strain the ketchup
  • Straining the ketchup
  • Finished product
  • Cooling the ketchup in an ice bath before refrigerating it.
  • Barbecue chicken ready for oven made with the fresh ketchup.
  • Swedish meatballs made with the ketchup ready for oven

Plant Relocation & Some Harvesting

I thought my plants might do better outside. So with the help of Kris Mesman, we transferred the plants outside in front of the Health Services Building.

These are my potatoes that I planted in a container. I like small potatoes so I planted 8-10 slices with eye of the potato in a container that was around 18” in diameter.If I had wanted less but larger potatoes I would have planted 4-6 slices of eye of the potato in the container.

The Plants Are Growing!

My Amish paste tomatoes are looking good. When they ripen , besides making my own tomato sauce this year I think I will try something new- homemade ketchup.
My container herbs that I have on my front porch. Rosemary, Basil, and Parsley.
More Basil. I think I will be able to make lots of Pesto this year.

Chicken and Grapefruit Stir-fry

I tried a new recipe last night. I thought it was very good. These are the ingredients ready  for Chicken and Grapefruit Stir Fry. A pdf version of the recipe can be found on the Health Eating page or by clicking here.

Ingredients

1 grapefruit, peeled

1# pineapple chunks in unsweetened pineapple juice

¼ cup cornstarch

2 tsp. sodium reduced, soy sauce

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1# boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut across the grain into slices

1 cup snow peas, trimmed

4 scallions, sliced diagonally

Directions

Peel the grapefruit and cut into sections, holding the fruit over a small bowl to catch the juice.  Drain the pineapple well, reserving the juice.  Put the pineapple juice and grapefruit juice into a measuring cup and add enough water to equal 2 cups.  Add the cornstarch and soy sauce and stir until smooth.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Add the garlic and chicken. Cook until internal temperature of 165°F. (around 8-10 minutes). Add the snow peas and cornstarch mixture; stir-fry until the sauce thickens and boils.  Add the grapefruit, pineapple, and scallions; stir-fry until heated through.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving: 1 cup

Calories: 165   Carbohydrates: 20 grams    Protein: 14 grams

Fat:  3 grams      Cholesterol: 31 mgs.          Dietary Fiber:  3 grams

Sodium:  82 mgs.

  • All the ingredients ready to go.
  • Added garlic and chicken to hot oil.
  • Cooked the chicken to internal temp of 165 degrees.
  • Added snowpeas and corn starch mixture.
  • Cooked until sauce was boiling and thickened.
  • Added grapefruit, pineapple, scallions and cooked until heated through.
  • Read to serve.
  • I had 1 cup of stir fry over 1 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of local strawberries – so sweet no sugar was needed and 1 glass of skim milk!

Where did all the plants go?

With the second attempt, I had an abundance of plants. More than I could use so I have shared them with some staff and asked them to update on how they are doing. I’m also going to try some as container plants in the office.