a few things for friday

Happy Friday!! I have a few gorgeous things to offer you today.

First, please try this recipe by Brittany at Eating Bird Food. She calls hers, “Mediterranean Diet Pesto Pasta Salad,” and it looks divine. The photo below is of my own finished product, which had lots of adaptations based on what I already had in my kitchen.

MAN you guys. So good and simple, so satisfying, so GREEN and decadent too. I used raw kale instead of arugula, almonds instead of walnuts, and frozen shelled edamame instead of peas, based on an idea my daughter gave me. (Just boil frozen veg in with dry pasta, genius! Why have I never done this?)

Basics:

• whole wheat pasta
• frozen peas, edamame, etc
• fresh cherry tomatoes if you have some
• lots of great olive oil, salt and pepper, also garlic
• equal handsful of fresh basil and leafy green of choice (I went heavy with kale)
• a good scoop of raw nuts for the pesto
• lots of lemon juice
• more leafy greens

I ate half of this warm and the rest once it had chilled. Both iterations are great. I will be making this again, all summer, with whatever extras I have on hand. Anything less would be a sad waste of basil season, as basil is the King of Herbs. Amen.

A note about making pesto in your blender: If you want to go easy on the grinding and pulsing and keep some texture in your leafy greens and raw nuts, do that. It is a good life decision, especially if the pesto is meant as a salad dressing. And if you’re shy with lemon juice, are you really living your life fully?

Okay, this might be an excellent take-along to a cookout if you’re gathering for Father’s Day this weekend!

Our festivities started today, with Handsome escaping the Commish just in time to make our 1:00 lunch date at Texas de Brazil in OKC. So luxurious for special occasions! This time we celebrated not only his early Father’s Day but also the culmination of a long-term project at work, a huge success and relief (soon a relief, at least). I am always proud of him; but lately, my seams are bursting. He is in a state of sleepy protein bliss as I type this.

Tomorrow we have a few fun things from which to choose (hopefully a long run for me early in the morning because my run today had to end at 9 miles), then on Sunday all of my family are descending on my parents for a rowdy and loving cookout. Even my little brother and his east coast bunch are here! They flew in for his 20th high school reunion. 

I predict so much good-hearted teasing, excellent grilled meats, and a few too many desserts. Our family is blessed with stellar men, each deserving of all the love and attention we can muster for Father’s Day. And food, obviously. They deserve a great meal.

I still want to tell you so much about The Book of Joy. Why don’t you go ahead and read it, and we will soon have a small online book club discussion about it? Okay? Ok. That will be awesome. 

How do we embrace the reality of our lives, deny nothing, but transcend the pain and suffering that is inescapable? And even when our lives are good, how do we live in joy when so many others are suffering? ~Douglas Abrams

Finally, friends, please take a few minutes to read Dee’s blog entry titled, “Why Do Gardens Matter?” Ahh Dee. I love you so much. My gardens feed me, certainly. In every possible way. Mind, body, and soul. Yes.

Thanks for clicking over and reading along, friends! I hope your weekend is off to much beauty, deep refreshment, and a tall stack of happy memories in the works.

“You become a person through other persons.”
~African teaching
XOXOXOXO

P.S. I am back to preparing a monthly “Bliss List” because it matters. I hope you curate some version of it, too.