Love Food, Will Share

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Parmesan Cheese

Pesto 3 Ways

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Greens are abundant this time of year rather it be from your garden, your CSA Share or from the Farmers Market. Pesto 3 Ways is a great way to utilize those greens.

How was your weekend? Did you enjoy the last weekend of summer? I was just happy that it was a three day weekend. The family (the husband, middle daughter Kiley and SIL & BIL Kathy & Dave) and I went to the Appleton’s Farmers Market to see my daughter Mackenzie, it was her last market before she headed back to college. We had a nice day bumming in Appleton.

Sunday was spent canning for the day. Cowboy Candy, Hot Peppers, Chipotle Sauce and Tomato Sauce were canned. We ended the day with Chicken that the husband made on the smoker. And lastly,  Monday was spent doing much of nothing, just enjoying the day off and catching up on recipes and the blog.

Pesto 3 ways uses kale, broccoli and celery leaves to create three different kinds of pestos that are all equally delicious in my book. Pesto is always made up with a green, parmesan cheese, a nut, olive oil and garlic.

I am featuring Celery Pesto which uses celery leaves and walnuts, Kale Pesto which uses kale and cashews and Broccoli Kale Pesto which uses broccoli, kale and walnuts. Pesto stores well in the fridge for approx. 2 weeks and in the freezer for up to 3 months.

I will be featuring recipes in the next couple of days to use your Pesto 3 Ways with. So stay tuned for ways to use pesto.

Enjoy!

Kay Signature

 

 

 

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Pesto 3 Ways

Rating: 51

Yield: Each recipe yields approx. 1 cup of pesto.

Pesto 3 Ways

Ingredients

  • Celery Pesto
  • 4 cups celery leaves, packed
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • Broccoli Kale Pesto
  • 2 cups chopped broccoli florets, just the tops, no stems
  • 1 cup (loosely packed) fresh basil leaves
  • 2 cups kale, packed
  • 2/3 cup grated Romano or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
  • 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Kale Pesto
  • 4 cups packed kale, stems removed
  • ½ cup chopped cashews
  • 2/3 cup olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 2 pinches of salt

Instructions

  • Celery Pesto: Add all the ingredients to a food processor. Pulse until thoroughly mixed. Taste for seasoning, you may need to add more salt.
  • Broccoli Kale Pesto: Add the broccoli florets in a microwave safe bowl and add ¼ cup of water. Microwave for 2 minutes or until the broccoli is bright green in color. Add the broccoli to the food processor.
  • Also add to the food processor the basil, kale, cheese, walnuts, garlic, olive oil and salt.
  • Process the pesto until thoroughly mixed. Taste, you may need to add more salt. If the mixture is thick, add a little water.
  • Kale Pesto: Add all the ingredients to a food processor. Pulse until thoroughly mixed. Taste for seasoning, you may need to add more salt.
http://www.lovefoodwillshare.com/pesto-3-ways/

Pesto 3 Ways

Pesto 3 Ways

Such pretty colors of green.

Such pretty colors of green.

This stores well in the fridge and freezer.

This stores well in the fridge and freezer.

This is great to eat just by itself.

This is great to eat just by itself.

Yum!

Yum!

I store my pesto in Ball Half Pint canning jars.

I store my pesto in Ball Half Pint canning jars.

Celery, Broccoli/Kale & Kale Pesto are featured.

Celery, Broccoli/Kale & Kale Pesto are featured.

Celery Pesto with walnuts.

Celery Pesto with walnuts.

Broccoli Kale Pesto with walnuts.

Broccoli Kale Pesto with walnuts.

Kale Pesto with cashews.

Kale Pesto with cashews.

 

Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Soup

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Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Soup tastes like you went to your garden and picked the fresh vegetables and created this wonderful soup. I love soups made in the slow cooker, to me, they just taste better. I don’t know why, they just do. So, to continue with my love of slow cooker soups I created this recipe for Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Soup.

I had high five’s from my daughter’s Hailey and Mackenzie on this soup. My hubby, Mr. B had other opinions. I asked him how he liked it (I was riding pretty high as I LOVED this soup) and he said it was good and then admitted to me that he doesn’t like his tomato soup creamy. I guess I learned something new about Mr. B even though I’ve been married to him for almost 25 years, just saying, I thought I knew him so well.

The tomato flavor is enhanced with carrots, celery, onions and broth. This soup really comes together in the end when you melt parmesan cheese into some half and half and added it to the pureed soup. I served it with homemade rye croutons. They were very tasty in the soup, I really liked the rye and caraway flavor.

After the soup has cooked for hours you puree the soup.

After the soup has cooked for hours you puree the soup.

 

 

The half & half and parmesan cheese are added in.

The half & half and parmesan cheese are added in.

 

 

Croutons added on top.

Croutons added on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creamy Tomato Soup

Creamy Tomato Soup

 

 

Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Soup

Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Kay Signature

 

 

 

 

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Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Soup

Yield: 8 Servings

Slow Cooker Creamy Tomato Soup

Ingredients

  • 4 cups diced fresh roma tomatoes, with seeds and juice
  • 1 ½ cups diced carrots
  • 1 ½ cups diced onions
  • 3 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 tsp. oregano
  • 2 tbsp. basil
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 2/3 cup half and half
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese, I used Kraft
  • Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Add to your slow cooker; tomatoes, carrots, onions, paste, oregano, basil and vegetable broth. Cook on low for 5 hours or until the vegetables are very soft. Take an immersion blender (or you can use a blender) and puree the soup mixture.
  • In a small pan, cook the half and half on low until heated through, add the parmesan cheese and cook until the cheese is melted. Add the mixture to the soup base and stir to combine. Taste the soup for seasonings, you may want to add some salt and pepper at this point, but most likely you won’t need to.
http://www.lovefoodwillshare.com/slow-cooker-creamy-tomato-soup/

 

 

Parmesan Green Beans

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Parmesan Green Beans is a super side dish that uses fresh green beans with bacon, parmesan cheese and ranch dressing mix added in for a bold flavor.

Fresh green beans are the best. When you saute’ the green beans they still have a nice crunch when you bite into them. They are even better when you add some bacon (bacon makes everything taste better). I like the combination of parmesan cheese and ranch dressing mix, they compliment each other very well.

Parmesan Green Beans

Parmesan Green Beans

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cook the bacon first, then scoop out the bacon out and add in the green beans. I think the reason these taste so good is the fact that you cook the green beans in the bacon fat. They also taste good because of the parmesan cheese and ranch dressing mix.

Parmesan Green Beans

Parmesan Green Beans

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Kay Signature

 

 

 

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Parmesan Green Beans

Yield: 6 Servings

Parmesan Green Beans

Ingredients

  • 6 slices of bacon cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 lb fresh green beans, washed with ends snapped
  • 3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese (I recommend Kraft Parmesan Cheese)
  • 2 tbsp. Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning and salad dressing mix (dry)

Instructions

  • Heat a pan over medium high heat and add the pieces of bacon, fry until crisp. Remove the bacon and leave the bacon grease in the pan. Add the green beans and cook 5-7 minutes or until green beans are bright in color. Stir in the parmesan cheese and ranch mix. Stir continuously for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese and mix has coated the beans. Transfer the beans to a bowl and toss in the bacon pieces.
http://www.lovefoodwillshare.com/parmesan-green-beans/