Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Pie!

What is it about the combination of strawberries and rhubarb that is just so delectable? What's even better is they are both a spring seasonal ingredient! It's like the universe made them for each other! And what better way to serve them than in a warm baked pie topped with buttery sweet crumb topping?

This was pretty much a wing-it recipe, as I had not made the rhubarb sauce recipe I wanted to late last week and I needed to use up my rhubarb. I did use a frozen pie crust because I had one on hand. But definitely make one by hand if you have the time! Here is the recipe as close to what I did as I can make it :)

Filling:
Enough chopped strawberries and rhubarb to fill the pie crust to about 3/4 of the way full
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar

Crumb topping:
6tbsp butter
1/4 cup each flour, quick oats, brown and regular sugars.

For the filling mix strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and flour together and dump into pie crust

For the topping put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse till combined and crumbly. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the pie.

Bake the whole thing in a 400 degree oven for 25-35 min. Let stand at least 10 min before serving.

It comes out perfectly delicious, I know because I just finished my second slice... And I am pretty sure my fiancé is ready for a third! :) please enjoy and share my blog! Happy eating.

Spinach Pesto!

What is more delicious than a bowl full of fresh pesto over pasta? The spicy bite of the garlic, the saltiness of the Parmesan, just heavenly! But basil can be expensive in the quantities needed for a batch of pesto, and store bought varieties are full of preservatives and some don't even use olive oil!

My solution was to replace the basil with my seasonal ingredient, spinach! Pesto is easy enough to make at home, and spinach is so cheap you can make big batches at a time and freeze the leftover! Spinach is also super healthy for you, and this recipe might be a great way to get picky kids and/or husbands to eat it willingly.

The dish I made today was just pesto over shaped pasta with Italian seasoned tofu. Simple an delicious!

Here is the pesto recipe:
1 lb of spinach (less if using baby spinach)
2-4 large cloves of garlic, peeled
1/3 cup walnuts
1/4 cup Parmesan
Enough extra virgin olive oil to make smooth sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss garlic cloves into your food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped
Add walnuts and Parmesan and pulse until walnuts are also finely chopped
Add a few glugs of olive oil and as much of the spinach as will fit and pulse until well mixed, and repeat adding spinach and olive oil as needed
Season with salt and pepper

A spoonful of pesto mixed in with some shaped noodles and some pasta water really brings it together. I added some seasoned tofu for a protein.

This fresh tasty dish is super fast and easy to whip up and very very filling at the same time! Enjoy if you decide to try it, share and subscribe please! Happy eating.

Sausage, Asparagus, and Rice

Mmmm.. Spring is here and that means asparagus! A visit to my local farmers market yielded a lovely bunch of the green spears, along with some fresh locally made chicken sausage among other treasures.

This dish was very simple, the sausage was just grilled over medium heat. The asparagus was also grilled in foil packets with a small pat of butter, whole garlic cloves, and smoked sea salt.

The rice was made to do double duty for this dish and also to make burritos to freeze for lunch the next few days. Here is the "recipe" I used:

1 1/2 cups rice
1/2 onion diced
1 small tomato diced
Dash of the following to taste: garlic powder, pepper, cumin, cayenne, creole seasoning, salt.
3 cups water
1 bullion cube (chicken or veggie)
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Sauté onion in oil until softened, then add tomato and sauté another 4-5 min.
Add rice and spices and sauté about one min, until fragrant.
Add water and bullion cube and bring to a boil stirring occasionally.
Cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed, about 20 min.

There is a nice very simple dish, especially since you can make the rice in advance because this recipe makes enough to do double duty with another recipe. Speaking of, the rice was *perfect* in the bean burritos I made and froze, perfect for taking to work and heating up whenever I get a chance for lunch!

I hope you enjoyed my first food related post! Please share if you would like and I would love comments and feedback! If you try the recipe out let me know how you liked it. Happy eating!

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello! Welcome to what I hope will be a fun and successful blog experience about simple cooking with seasonal ingredients!

I am very much a food and cooking enthusiast, but not a professional cook. I have a passion for cooking (and eating!) and I am very excited to share that with anyone who wants to read! I hope that people will enjoy what I have to say and will share my blog with people they know! Look for my first food related post soon!

And yep... That silly chick with the rhubarb is me!