Some things i learned....

...flavoring turkey burgers with turmeric and cumin is really tasty...
...mixing cucumbers with chopped beats in a salad is no good...unless you like your cucumbers bright pink....

Pasta with Arugula Pesto and Roasted Tomatoes

This is the fourth week in a row that I've gotten a big quart of arugula in my CSA share. I needed to find a way to use up all of the arugula in one meal, preferably something that I can freeze and eat over time. Georgia suggested that i make arugula pesto, which i've never done before. And pesto freezes really well and goes with anything - pasta, chicken, fish, as a spread, and the argula leaves tend to go bad really quickly in my fridge, so i really needed to cook all of it immediately. Arugula pesto isn't much different from regular basil pesto, you just substitute the one leaf for another. Argula is quite bitter, so I added basil olive oil and walnuts to mellow out some of the bitterness in the pesto. Even with the basil oil and walnuts, the pesto was still very better. So, when making my pasta dish, i added some roasted grape tomatoes to boost the sweet flavor. I topped it all off with some basil from my CSA. This was literally the best basil i've ever tasted....the flavor was bright and strong, and had a lemony after taste. The basil gives this dish a summery taste!

Arugula Pesto
Ingredients:
1 quart of argula
3 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cup of walnuts
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons of basil olive oil (or regular olive oil)
salt to taste

Directions:
combine all of the ingredients in a cuisinart and blend until it has smooth consistency

Roasted Tomatoes:
Dice half a quart of grape tomatoes
Mix with 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
Cook in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees