Double trouble: Creamy pesto sauce / caprese quinoa

Why stop with plain pesto?  Now that you have a simple presto pesto recipe, let's see what we can do with it to change it up a bit...

I took on creamy pesto sauce, which is great for pasta, fish, and chicken.

Step 1:  Pour 8 oz. of cream into a saucepan.  I personally like to use light whipping cream to cut down on fat and calories, but heavy cream also works.  Turn the burner on to low-medium.

Step 2:  Add 2 tsp. of light butter, and whisk as it melt into the cream.

Step 3:  When the butter is melted, pop out 2 frozen cubes of presto pesto, or use 2 tbsp fresh pesto and add it to the pan.  (Cook's note:  Taste, as usual, and adjust to taste.  I usually go with more pesto for a stronger taste).  Whisk it in evenly, and turn the temp up to bring it to a light rolling boil.

Step 4:  Once the sauce comes up to a boil, turn it down to low and continue to whisk occasionally.  Keep the sauce simmering until it begins to thicken and then turn off the burner.  It will continue to thicken as it cools down, so use it once it reaches your desired consistency.

I served the sauce over grilled wild-caught salmon, with a side of caprese quinoa salad.  I must admit, after tasting how awesome the sauce was, I ended up pouring it over the quinoa as well.

To make the caprese quinoa, cook quinoa at least a few hours ahead of time, and refrigerate the quinoa.  (For cooking instructions, see http://ataps-easyeats.blogspot.com/2011/08/delicious-quinoa.html).  Slice cherry or grape tomatoes to the desired size, chop up fresh basil, and obtain fresh mozzarella (cook's tip:  a lot of grocery stores have it available in various sized balls, so I found some smaller than marbles, which was perfect, because I didn't have to cut it down to size!).  Mix all of it into the quinoa and serve cold.

Baby animals are delicious

RACK OF LAMB.  Are you intimidated?  I know I was...since I am feeling feisty these days, I felt that it was necessary to make this challenge my bitch.  And how!

So, rack of lamb - go get you some!  I once again went with the farmer's market to my favorite "we only kill cute and delicious baby animals" stand and got a frozen 1-pound rack (about 8 "bones," since I don't know the fancy chef term - are they ribs?  I have no idea. There are bones involved and I like to eat the meat.)  Get them frenched, wherever you get them. Beware beginners, this doesn't mean smooch raw meat, or at least it doesn't in this particular situation.  Thaw the meat.

First, we will mix up a simple seasoning...take a bowl and throw in a base of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley flakes, celery seed, basil flakes, and oregano and whisk it all together.  Put in enough where the seasoning makes the olive oil a thick herby texture.  I wish I could tell you how much I used of each, but to be honest, I literally pulled jars off my spice rack, smelled each of them, shrugged my shoulders, and threw some in.  There really is no method to my madness.  Also, make a dry mixture of everything except the oil.

Passed the smell test.

Pour the oil and herb mixture over the rack of lamb in a shallow baking dish.  Coat all sides evenly.  Next, rub the dry herb mix all over the rack.  Place the fatty side up in the pan.  Set it aside and allow the meat to reach room temp so that it cooks evenly.

Rub it...rub it good.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Throw it in for 7 minutes and then turn the heat down to 300.  You will cook it for another 10-18 minutes depending on the size of the rack (that's what he said!) and what temp you want it.  I like mine rare, so I kept it in for about 12 more mins at 300 degrees.

Beautiful, rare lamb, and a really big knife.

Remove from the oven, cover with foil,and let it sit for 5-10 mins.  Then slice between the mystery bones and serve with a side of your choice.  (I went with quinoa, which I prepared with garlic.  I then threw in some "steam in a bag" veggies in, and then stirred in some cherry salsa to have a sweet, spicy, smokey taste).

I'm pretty much an artist.