No One Messes with Triple P!
When I walked out of today’s Counseling and Teaching final exam at 1:45 pm, I had just taken three finals in under 24 hours. No, I’m not kidding. There was some driving, eating, and occasional sleeping during that time.
(Here’s where the crotchety coot voice would say, “Young lady, in my day we had FIVE final exams in the space of five hours. And, we had to milk the cows and bale the hay during the five minute break between exams two and three.” )
I have one more final exam left on Friday, and then NO MORE marathon car sessions until August!! :D :D The dietitian for whom I work lives only half an hour away. Sweet.
When I arrived home yesterday, I was thrilled to see a package outside our apartment for me. Inside was a gorgeous purse that I won in Kristen‘s giveaway!
(I’m not sure what I’m pointing at, but it ain’t the purse.)
The purse was made by Kristen’s boss, Anissa, who started her company Lemonade Road while recovering a traumatic injury. The purse is gorgeous and roomy and – did I mention that red is my favorite color?? Thanks, Anissa and Kristen!
During the last few days, I took walks with Peter during study breaks:
I also took time out to whip up a little treat I like to call:
No One Messes with Triple P! (Protein-Packed Pesto)
(Who knew Terry Tate had pesto on the brain?)
Ingredients:
A buttload of basil leaves, preferably stripped from your prolific Aerogarden
1 garlic clove (trust me, it potent)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I just broke off chunks due to laziness stress from studying)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well
Place basil leaves, garlic, Parmesan, and pine nuts into food processor. Blend until … blended.
The basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Parmesan, ready to be DESTROYED (or ENjoyed, as the case may be ;) ):
While processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until blended. Add beans and blend the heck outta the pesto until it’s as smooth as desired.
Serve on top of your favorite whole grain pasta, shrimp optional.
I tried Triple P and regular pesto side-by-side. The Triple P is thicker, so if you like a thinner sauce, you can thin it out with a little water or broth. Or, you could serve Triple P as a party dip for veggies, chips, whatever. If you serve it as a dip, you may want to leave out the garlic to prevent clouds of dragon breath.
On the side, I threw together a beet and pear salad that my sister C sent to me a while back.
C’s Roasted Beet, Pear, and Feta Salad
Ingredients:
1/3 C. toasted nuts (almonds, walnut, pecan, etc.)
3 large beets – ends trimmed and individually wrapped in foil
2 firm ripe pears
3 C. beet greens or baby greens
1 C. feta or goat cheese (I used goat because that’s what we had in the fridge)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
Dressing:
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp honey
2 tsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 tsp grated ginger root
Toast nuts at 325 degrees F for 8 minutes (don’t burn). Or, you could make candied nuts by whipping an egg white until stiff, tossing pecans in the whipped white, tossing the egg-coated nuts in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, and baking at 300 degrees F for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring frequently.
Roast beets in foil at 400 degrees F for one hour. In the meantime, stir together dressing ingredients. If you have a handy husb like Peter, you can use the red wine vinegar that he aged himself in a 2 liter oak cask.
Peel and cube pears and toss with dressing. Chop the nuts. Once beets are done, let them cool, then peel and slice them. Add to pear and dressing mixture. Toss greens with 2 to 1 ratio of oil and vinegar, and add salt and pepper. Arrange greens in a bowl. Add beets and pears and top with cheese and nuts.
As you can see, I didn’t arrange my beets and pears over greens because I just wasn’t feelin’ it. Even so, this salad would be fabulous with some greens, so give it a try! I liked this dinner so much that I repeated it in a slightly-altered form for the next day’s lunch:
I’m off to go study! Bonnie and Maddie want to have the last word:
The End.
Q: Do you like pesto? AND, have you seen “Terrible” Terry Tate (aka Triple T)?
If you haven’t, watch the clip below:
