Hi everyone! I am trying out this blogging thing! Bear with me as I don’t really know what I am doing. I am going to try to make it look pretty, provide information and maybe make you laugh once or twice. Let’s see how this goes!
We lead very busy lives running a farm and store. Therefore, I am always looking for quick dinners I can start when I get home at 6:00pm and have on the table by 7:00pm. Meals with the least hands-on prep are helpful too because I have a toddler bouncing around as I am trying to cook. The benefit of running a food market is I can grab some supplies when I leave work to use for dinner!
I wanted to share with all of you the dinner I made last night. I used several items we have right here in our store, including a new product I am obsessed with at the moment. This meal took me about 30 minutes to put together from start to finish. And there were only six ingredients! (Please ignore the fact that there are four ingredients in the picture. LOL!)
- Olive Oil
- Parmesan Cheese
- Broccoli – You can use fresh or when I’m really pressed for time, I actually use a bag of frozen broccoli–cook it a little longer in the oven (@400F for 25 minutes) and it turns out amazing!
- Seasoning – I like using McCormick’s Montreal Seasoning or Wildman’s Garden Fresh
- Pasta- I used spaghetti, but really you can use any kind you want.
- David & Davis Parmesan Cracked Peppercorn Cooking & Dipping Oil
I start by preheating my oven to 400F to get it ready to roast the broccoli and putting a pot of water on the stove for the pasta. I used frozen broccoli last night, but you can easily use fresh if you have the time to cut it up. The broccoli goes on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. I pour a little olive oil on top and sprinkle my seasoning. I use my hands to mix it all up, pop it in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes.
When the water boils, I add the pasta (I use about half a pound) and prepare my David & Davis Cooking Oil. There are instructions on the bottle, but you add 2T of hot tap water to rehydrate the spices in the bottle, let it sit for 5 minutes and then fill with olive oil. Voila! You have a wonderful seasoned oil for cooking or dipping bread.
My one tip for using this product is to make sure to use a paper towel to cover the spout while you are shaking it up. We won’t talk about why that is my tip. 🙂 When the pasta is cooked and drained, I stir in about 2-3T of the oil to coat the pasta. This is also when I shake in some parmesan cheese so it melts. I let this sit as the broccoli finishes cooking. At this point, I also add some Texas Toast to the toaster oven.
Make sure to remember to stir the broccoli after 10 minutes and let it roast for about 10 more minutes. I like our broccoli a little brown on the edges so I cook mine for about 20 minutes total. Yum!
When the broccoli is done, I simply put the pasta in a bowl and dump the broccoli on top. You can always add baked chicken breast to this meal for some protein. Chris and I really enjoyed the Davis & Davis oil! It was our first time trying it and I am looking forward to finding other ways to use it. I want to make fresh bread and use it as a dipping sauce. Here is the final meal. I added a little cheese to the top and it was delicious!
I hope you enjoyed this post. I am new to blogging, but hoping to do more posts about products from our store, what it’s like to be a farmer (and a farmer’s wife) and how we manage the daily life of running our own business! We try to write weekly newsletters so if you are not signed up and want to be kept up to date with all the happenings at our orchard, click the button below to be added to the list!
If you do, you will never miss the first day of strawberry picking or the last day of apple picking. 🙂
Love the recipe suggestion. Pasta with veggies is a good quick go to meal. I love your produce selection at the store and could also see adding peppers, tomatoes, etc. I will look forward to taking these suggestions and adding what’s on hand for my meals. My story for grated Parmesan cheese is to also hold the lid. It looks like snow coming down otherwise. Thanks for the blog!
Adding the other veggies is a great idea! Your comment about the parmesan cheese snow storm made me giggle. 🙂
Great job! Looking forward to your blogs. I love Rittman apples! I have been coming there for 40 years. I used to come with my seven children to pick apples. We would have a picnic lunch and then go home and peel apples and make pies and sauce. Now I go with them and I help them make sauce for their children. Still enjoy stopping there!
Thank you so much! It is so wonderful to get such kind feedback on my first blog. 🙂 I am glad you enjoy coming out to our orchard and have for so long! What wonderful memories.
Hi Amanda,
I think your blog was inspirational & fun to read. You did a great job! I’m so glad you are doing a blog because I don’t do Facebook. I love your apples; we just keep buying & eating them. They taste as fresh as just picked! I look forward to your future blogs & learning about your farm, recipes & products!
Joan
Thank you so much for your kind comment. I am so happy to hear you enjoy our apples. Thank you for the support.
We are eating more vegetarian meals. Looking forward to more like this one, great inspiration. Will be roasting brocolli soon.
Yay! I am so glad you enjoyed the blog post! Let us know if you end up trying this. My secret is seriously roasting frozen broccoli. I was very skeptical before I tried it, but now it’s really my go to for a quick veggie. Now if I could just get my toddler to eat it. She tells me, “I will like broccoli when I am a grown-up.” Ok, Abigail. 🙂
Loved this simple recipe & dialogue, thanks for sharing! I would normally try this without any seasoning but may try the Wildman’s Garden Fresh & especially the Davis & Davis Parmesan Peppercorn if both are salt-free & not too spicy/hot (peppercorns?) Hoping both are available for online ordering with nutrition info list on labels. Love the blog & especially not on Facebook or elsewhere, need easy! Thanks!
Thank you for your comment. I am glad you liked the recipe. I had added the nutrition ingredients to the Peppercorn product in our online store. I do know that neither product is salt-free. However, we do have a Wildman’s Spice called Premium Blend that is salt-free. You could try that! I did not find the peppercorns in this product to be too spicy.
Hi Amanda
This is fantastic and so encouraging for my writing and our business.
Yay! Thank you for your comment! I hope you are doing well.
It won’t let me sign up for the newsletter.
Yes! I am so sorry about that. I forgot to add the link. Try it again. It should work now!
Here are some more great ideas to use with the Davis & Davis oil!
-Drizzle over steamed vegetables.
-Add your favorite vinegar and use as a salad dressing.
-Toss with warm white beans and roasted red peppers.
-Finish a grilled steak with a drizzle.
-Stir into warm polenta.
-Swirl into hot and hearty soups.