I forgot to mention the new addition to our garden! We have a lime tree now. Wee!!
It’s the one on the far left above. So the sprinkler situation above is our out-of-town solution to watering our babies. The hose is attached to a sprinkler and timer and we set it to go off for 2 minutes at 6 am and 6 pm. It has tons of settings and is pretty convenient. Kyle’s parents let us borrow it while we are in Cabo for the week. If the plants are alive when we come home I think it’ll be a good thing to invest in for future trips. Look at me. I’m acting like these plants are pets or something – needing babysitting and TLC in my absence. Ha.
Anyway, I wanted to introduce you to a cool tool that I keep forgetting about.
Not scissors.
I got mine at my bridal shower (they are from Crate & Barrel), but you can get these herb scissors at tons of places, like Amazon or Bed Bath & Beyond or here or here. They are so simple to use and clean it makes me want to use basil in every recipe.
Summer Pasta
Ingredients:
- 8 oz pasta
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 5 yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 large red bell pepper, diced
- 4 basil leaves, shredded
- 2 tbsp olive oil (garlic infused if you want)
- 1/4 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
Directions:
Cook pasta until it’s almost done then drain water.
Add olive oil, tomatoes, bell peppers, and basil and toss.
Allow veggies to cook and once tomatoes start to get mushy add the Greek yogurt.
Toss until the sauce is well mixed and has coated everything. It will be a lovely light pink.
Serve and dig in. The sauce is the best part. Greek yogurt makes a mock vodka sauce once it combines with the tomatoes.
Add parmesan on top if you want (like Kyle does). And definitely grab a slice of bread to swipe up the leftover sauce.
This pasta is really really good. Basil and tomatoes – now that’s what summer tastes like.
Do you have any random cool kitchen gadgets that you use?
This is so funny! I literally just made this last night but I added lemon juice and lemon rind to my greek yogurt …well and garlic which I know is a Fodmap no, no but it was delicious! I also added peas and shredded zucchini!
a lime tree!! how awesome — bring on the tequila! — jk jk….that pasta looks fabulous — i just saw a commercial for those scissors! my fav “gadget” if you can even call it that, is the good old mandolin:)
I’m excited to try the greek yogurt pasta sauce! I also may get those scissors. I’ve been preparing a lot of recipies that have fresh herbs lately and I find cutting up herbs to be such a chore! Especially for cilantro, which I love but hate to cut up!
Those herb scissors look amazing!
My two favorite kitchen helpers are:
1) Mini Food Processor. I never have to dice anything, ever, and I use it every day– garlic, herbs, nuts, ginger, tons of stuff! (Mostly garlic.) Also awesome for making 1-2 servings of sauce or dressing.
2) Magnetic Knife Strip. I know it’s super common (especially at restaurants), and I wanted one for YEARS. I finally “splurged” the $20, which I thought was totally ridiculous for a strip of magnet, but it’s so awesome– I keep all of our knives, a pair of scissors, and metal tongs on it, and our kitchen drawers are more organized since those things aren’t cluttering them up.
The pasta recipe looks awesome! Will definitely try it out in the next week!
bookmarking this. it looks amazing!
NEED some of those nifty little scissors. And that dinner.
Also, a lime tree…how exciting!!
A lime tree – fantastic! If I lived in the correct climate, I would get myself a lemon tree – I eat enough of them!
That pasta recipe looks so light and tasty. I bet it hit the spot!
Glad to know I’m not the only one who worries about the plants when I’m gone. I’m getting ready to go for a week, and I’m more concerned about leaving my cherry tomatoes then I am about leaving my cat. As for gadgets, I demanded custody of the food processor in my divorce. I use that bad boy for everything.
How have I missed those at Crate & Barrel? I scour those shelves every time I’m there! As for my favorite tool in the kitchen, since I don’t care to smell like garlic for days, I love the garlic press my daughter bought! Use it all the time when I make hummus! Fast and easy to clean, and oh so perfectly mashed/pressed!!
Love the herb scissors! Those would be so handy in my kitchen. *adding to wedding registry*
As for kitchen gadgets, I love my Microplane–it’s so perfect for everything from zesting citrus to grating Parm. I nearly had a panic attack when I thought I lost it a few weeks ago 🙂
This looks so easy and delicious! I have tons of basil too! Totally making this! Thanks!
A lime tree? How cool is that?! Do you actually get limes off of it or is it too young?
I LOVE those scissors! I need to find them somewhere. They are genius. I love fresh herbs but dread having to chop them (I use them all the time, but I hate the mess!). Have you used them on cilantro? Do you think they would work?
Courtney
Those herb scissors are so cool! Like I’m seriously going to go out and get them now, haha. And love the idea of greek yogurt for summer pasta; so refreshing (:
1. that salad looks bomb.
2. i got those same scissors for my bday! love them.
no limes yet, but there are teeny tiny little green things that have just popped out of flowers…
oh and btw, the herb scissors work on everything. they are great. cilantro, chives, whatever you want to chop small. so fast. so easy.
I want them! As soon as I start working and get some money…