Linguine with Tuna, Walnuts, Lemons and Herbs

Yes, another recipe using lemons :)   

I love Italian food.  In fact my business partner (and very good friend) when I had my cafe and catering business is Italian so our food leaned heavily on simple, authentic Italian dishes.  Dishes that are easy, clean and made with fresh, high quality ingredients.  That's what this recipe is.  It takes basic pantry staples and turns them into a delicious, healthy and easy recipe.  This one comes together in no time and is a go-to dish for me, especially when wonderful hubby is out of town and I'm feeding just me :)  It's very easy to cut in half. 

Linguine with Tuna, Walnuts, Lemon and Herbs

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 pound linguine

1/3 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced or passed through a garlic press

2  6-ounce cans high quality tuna, packed in oil

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, (1 or 2 lemons, depending on size)

2 teaspoons lemon juice (I usually use the juice of 1 or 2 lemons)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup mixed chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, chives and thyme (I used parsley and chives)

In a small frying pan, toast the walnuts over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until golden brown, about 3 minutes, being careful not to burn them.

In a large  pot of boiling, salted water, cook linguine until al dente, about 12 minutes.  Reserve about a cup of the pasta cooking liquid.  You may (may) need to add a bit to the sauce to loosen it a little bit.  Drain pasta and set aside.

While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for one minute.  (Note:  When I made this dish, I ran out of garlic {can you believe that!} and only used one clove.  It's really best to use 4 as called for.) 

Stir in the tuna and its oil, breaking up the tuna with a fork.  Remove from heat.

Toss the linguine with the tuna mixture, the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper and 1/2 the fresh herbs.

 

Top with remaining herbs toasted walnuts and serve.  This dish is best eaten immediately.  

Buon Appetito!

Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplant

More seeds started!

These summer vegetables~~tomatoes, peppers and eggplant~~are a little more susceptible to frosts and cold nights; but it's plenty early for me to get their seeds going in the greenhouse to transplant into the garden when the weather warms up, likely mid to late April in the hills here in Boerne.

I have this pretty cool set up where I plant seeds in these little grow plugs,

 

 

 Set them in a float tray, 

 

Place a hothouse dome over the whole thing, 

Set it on a seed heating pad 

  And place the whole contraption under my grow lamp in the greenhouse

Voila!

This is the first year I've used this set up and I'm anxious to see how it works.  I need to keep the little plugs moist but it should work like a charm in getting the seeds going.  I checked it this morning and the little plugs are moist and warm on top of the heating pad so I'm pretty confident it'll work the way it's supposed to.  But...we'll see.  Right now the greenhouse is open but if it's going to get cold, I'll just close the door and windows and it stays pretty toasty in there, especially if I turn on the two heaters.

I did a little Mickey Mouse legend in my gardening notebook so I would remember what I planted in which plugs :)

 

Anyway, here's what I planted:

"A superb sweet pimento that is a favorite for fresh eating.  Clusters of 8-10 thick-walled, juicy pimentos per plant.  Fruits are flattened globes with gentle lobing.  Green when immature, cherry red when ripe."

"The largest of the sweet stuffing peppers, these are first-rate fresh or roasted.  Long and tapering with a non-bell shape.  When they are ripe, the fruits turn a stunning red, with an occasional brilliant yellow.  Tall plants bear an abundance of fruit."

"An oversized, juicy cherry tomato with great flavor and few seeds.  Vigorous vines are highly productive and disease resistant.  Selected by the late horticultural genius, Alan Chadwick."

  "Heirloom.  An old Italian variety excellent for fresh eating.  Prolific vines are vigorous and lush.  Indeterminate."

"Rich, smooth flavor and perfect acid/sweet balance in a medium-sized beefsteak tomato.  An exceptional fresh slicer.  Extremely productive plants produce up to 50 tomatoes each.  Trellis for highest quality fruit."

"Introduced from South America in 1951, this flavorful, prolific, mid-season variety bears firm, vitamin rich, crack-resistant fruit late into the season.  Indeterminate variety needs trellising."

"A beautiful, white to pale green eggplant is creamier and less bitter than the purple types.  Extremely productive plant and the earliest maturing in our (Seeds of Change) trials.  A great choice for container gardening. 
*Note from me:  I'm not a big fan of purple eggplant, so I'm very anxious to see what these little
white ones taste like. 

Again, maybe I'm overly optimistic about my gardening abilities, but I do hope these seeds germinate and grow into little transplants that I can nurture and eventually plant in my Texas garden.  All of these varieties are new to me so I have no idea what to expect.  But I do know that I'll watch them carefully and do my best to bring them all to beautiful, healthy plants that produce an abundance of fruit that I can share with my family and friends.  I guess...stay tuned :)

More Spring Planting!

Spring is here in South Texas and I couldn't be happier.  But mind you...we are not completely free of a few more frosts and cold nights.  It's too early to put tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, beans and cantaloupe in the ground, but there's plenty of cool weather vegetables that can be planted now.  If we are expecting a frost or very cold night, I'll just cover the beds with a large frost blanket.  Easy fix :)

Early last week, I set the soaker hoses in 2 of the three beds I prepped (the 3rd one already has my 1015 onions in it), and planted the following: 

"Originally from Europe and grown for over a century for its distinct peppery flavor.  Leaves and white flowers are all edible.  Great in salads or lightly sauteed with garlic and pine nuts over pasta.  Plant early spring or late summer as it prefers cool weather.  High in protein for a green."

 "Diminutive, sweet romaine from England.  Compact heads with dense, blanched hearts and fine long standing flavor.  The small size and tight heads are a real space saver."

"Beautiful luminescent, bright golden leaf petioles are striking in the garden and on the plate.  Leaves are light to dark green and semi-savoyed.  Steamed or in a stirfry, a great midsummer alternative to spinach, but will produce well into fall.  Baby leaves are great in salads."

"A gorgeous burgundy beet with a flattened globe to round shape that tapers subtly and keeps a uniform size.  Delicious dark green and burgundy leaves with deep red petioles.  More vigorous than most red beets."

 "Highly frilled, deep red leaves that grow slowly but resist bolting.  Excellent as a cut and come again lettuce and stunning in salad mixes."

 

 "Well balanced, earthy, sweet flavor, made the the winner in our (Seeds of Change) recent taste trials.  Shorter roots perform well in heavy or shallow soils.  A popular choice since 1929.  Stores well."

 "Golden roots that are both sweet and round make for a unique beet variety.  The attractive and nutritious, deep green tops feature contrasting yellow stems and are mild flavored and delicious when cooked.  45 days for baby-sized roots; 60 days for full size."

 "Striking reddish purple with a nearly coreless brilliant orange interior.  Good raw, cooked and juiced.  Freezes well for storage.  Unique color and fine sweet taste are sure to be a hit with children.  Slicing and peeling reveals marvelous contrast of colors.  Bred by John Navazio." 

So...as you can see my spring garden is well underway :)  As a matter of fact, the arugula has already begun to germinate!  And I saw a couple of the Little Gem Romaine lettuce heads beginning to peak through the soil this morning. 
 

 

I just *love* it when the first tiny seedlings begin to poke their little green heads through the dirt!  I'm one of those weird people that goes out to the garden every day and peers closely at each row to see if anything has begun to germinate.  

My plan is to succession plant the red leaf lettuce, carrots and the beets by planting another row of each in about two weeks.  

I have such high hopes for my spring garden this year.  I've learned so much since getting back into gardening full throttle these past few years.  Wish me luck and I'll surely keep you posted :)

Busy Bees and Butterflies

I was watering plants in the greenhouse a couple of days ago and my greenhouse was abuzz with honey bees!  They are so neat to watch as they flit about my plants.  It's tough to get good photographs because they don't stay in one place very long, but I got a couple of decent shots when they landed on my red kalanchoes.

I also captured this beautiful, green, mysterious butterfly out there, also flitting among the kalanchoes and geraniumus.  Not sure what this pretty creature is, but I was sure happy to see her dancing about :)

Chunky Red Dal Soup

My husband and I love lentils and there are many lentil soup recipes out there.  I've got a few very good ones in my cooking repertoire that we both really like.  But I bought some beautiful red lentils the other day that I wanted to make a soup with so I did some online research and found this absolutely D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S recipe.  It is soooo goood and soooo easy.  It is on the table ready to eat in just about 30 minutes.  My kind of recipe!  And it uses 1 tablespoon of lemon juice...another use for my lemons!  Please give this one a try.  I really think you'll like it.

Chunky Red Dal Soup
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons peeled, finely grated fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups water
1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed and drained
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed and drained
1   14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used Muir Glen Organice Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes because that's what I had...turned out great)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon harissa (or red curry paste) I used curry paste
Chopped fresh cilantro

Note:  Please do use Smoked Paprika...it really adds depth to this dish

Mix ginger, paprika, salt, cumin, and black pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic; cook until onions are soft, about 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add spice mixture to onions and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute.

 

Add 3 cups of water, lentils, chickpeas and tomatoes; bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15-30 minutes, until the lentils are tender, stirring occasionally.   (Mine were done in 20 minutes).  Stir in the lemon juice and harissa or curry paste.

Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.

Buon Appetito!