I just got some bad news, which makes this post seem pretty trivial and unimportant, but for the sake of keeping some things somewhat private, I’ll continue with the post as planned, but please keep Nick and his family in your thoughts.
So back to “It’s A Pesto-licious Kind Of Day”. The “pesto-licious” day was actually yesterday, but once I’ve made dinner, I’m done for the day! Not thinking about what I had planned for dinner yesterday afternoon, I reached in to the office freezer and pulled out one of my favorites, Kashi Pesto Pasta Primavera. As I started eating it, I realized that we would be having pesto for dinner that evening: Grilled Sirloin with Artichoke Pesto and Farro Salad, which came out of the January issue of Fitness magazine and if the following pictures make your mouth water, you can click here for the recipe!
As directed, I started out by boiling water and adding the farro as well as getting the butternut squash ready to go in the oven.
Next up was to make the artichoke pesto. I added an extra artichoke and used half the oil so it was thicker (and so we could eat more of it without guilt).
Into the food processor when basil, artichoke hearts, parsley, nuts, garlic (I added two cloves instead of one due to mis-reading the recipe, but we love garlic so no harm was done), salt, pepper, and parmesan. With a drizzle of olive oil and water as I pulsed, the finished pesto came out like this:
With the pesto completed, squash in the oven, and farro boiling away, it was time to get chopping! Chopping the onion, that is.
Nick got me these onion goggles as a stocking stuffer for our first Christmas together. They were supposed to be a joke, but they’ve been one of the most useful gifts I’ve ever gotten! I’m über sensitive to onions. Even scallions have caused me to shed a tear before! I know I look totally ridiculous, but they keep me from gushing tears all over our dinner!
Into the pan when the onion, another clove of garlic and kale.
Right as the kale wilted, the squash and farro were done and ready to be tossed into the warm salad.
With the salad and pesto done, it was finally time to move on to grilling the meat.
Yes, that is a George Foreman Grill that I’ve had since college, and yes, I had to grill the meat in two batches because it wouldn’t all fit on at once. I know, I’m no longer 22 or living alone. It’s probably time to upgrade, but, well, it just hasn’t happened yet. Plus, did you see the size of the kitchen in photo of my sporting the onion goggles? The kitchen isn’t much bigger than what is shown in that picture! So, we’ll be keeping it small as far and the George Foreman goes until we get a bigger kitchen. Anyway, back to the Grilled Sirloin with Artichoke Pesto and Farro Salad. All together, it looked like this:
(Sorry, I with the pictures were better. I was using my phone which is the best camera I’ve got!)
Coming in at right around 480 calories per serving, and making a total of 4 servings, it was quite a satisfying dinner. We showed restraint and actually have leftovers! My only complaint about this recipe is it sure does use quite a bit of dishes: a sauce pan, a skillet, a baking sheet, a food processor, and the George Foreman Grill. That’s almost as bad as making Thanksgiving dinner! Oh well, it was tasty and I’m looking forward to the leftovers!
Happy “pesto-licious” day everyone!
The Urban Retrofit 