Tag Archives: Zest (ingredient)

High Turnover

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Ahh – turnovers.

They are one dessert that really brings back memories of my grandmother and summers at the beach.

She would always show up to every family gathering with a huuge box, filled with delicious raspberry turnovers.

I remember peeking at them before dinner just to see how many she’d brought…to see how quickly I’d have to act to secure one for myself. …seriously, you had to have a gameplan..those things would be gone in seconds!

The other day I was suddenly hit with the desire to make some of those beauties…perhaps as a way to cling on to the last days of summer…or maybe to celebrate the fact that I can heat my oven to 400 degrees without fear of turning my house into a sauna.

Either way, I decided to make some apple-raspberry turnovers – a perfect combo of berries (in jam form) and tart apples. Mmm, mmm good.

All you need? A granny smith apple – diced, 2 Tbsp of raspberry jam, a little bit of lemon zest (my addition, optional)…and voila you have a pretty stellar turnover filling. I forgot to add the cornstarch…the filling was fine without it. Tuck the filling into 6 squares of rolled out puff pastry and you’ll be in heaven.

Seriously…so good.

400 degrees and twenty minutes later…

Perfection.

They’re light, fluffy, buttery, crispy, sweet and tart simultaneously.

Breakfast tomorrow?

Probably.

Herby

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…fully loaded.

Ahh, that was a terrible reference. I’ve never even seen the LiLo flick.

Mooovin’ on.

Today was absolutely stunning – sunshine (which we haven’t seen in daaays) and warm (but not too warm) temps made for the perfect Saturday.

The bright, refreshing weather put me in the mood for something equally as bright and light.

In came Giada’s Herbed Quinoa. I had seen her make it just the other day (Food Network junkie – right here), and I had allll of the ingredients necessary.

I stepped outside and snipped some gorgeous parsley and basil – they were in pretty desperate need of a trim:

I only made a few changes to Giada’s original recipe (made 6 or 7 half cup servings):

Ingredients

Quinoa:

  • 2 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken stock  I used veggie stock, simply because it’s what I had on hand
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice  I eliminated this – reviews had stated that it was a bit to tart/lemony as it was written
  • 1 1/2 cups quinoa

Dressing:

  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil – I used 2 Tbsp
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice – I didn’t measure and just juiced an entire lemon 
  • 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves  Didn’t have
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the quinoa: In a medium saucepan, add the veggie stock and quinoa. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan and cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 12 to 15 minutes.

For the dressing: In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, chopped basil and parsley, and lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour the dressing over the quinoa and toss until all the ingredients are coated. Transfer the quinoa to a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve.

 

This was light, refreshing – and filling. Yum!

It was the perfect amount of lemony tartness, for me, with the brightness of the basil and the parsley. Plus – the zest adds another dimension of lemony goodness that just pulled it together. Not gonna lie – I went back and added some extra pinches of zest to my own serving.

I don’t use lemon nearly enough in my cooking.

  • What are some of your favorite ways to use lemon? or any citrus for that matter?