Adventures in Cooking...and not really WW friendly...

So J left this morning...And I am easing my body back into the routine of eating what it should.

Farmer's Market Conquests!

Before she left I wanted to cook a meal for her, and last night was truly delicious.  Not point friendly, but extremely healthy and I felt really good after this meal for the natural ingredients we used and ate.
First, we planned the menu at the Farmer's Market--starting with dessert (of course), and the basis of our meal--homemade pesto.


Easy and Delicious Pesto
2 c fresh Basil
1/2 c olive oil
1/3 c pine nuts
1/2 c parmesean cheese
2 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste (important!) 
8 servings=5 pts/serving (I know--but it is SO good and good for you!!) I don't know how big the servings are--but we doubled the recipe, so we actually had 16 servings, and I had to freeze A LOT of it!!

Pre-turning the food processor on!

Wow. Fresh and Delicious!!!

Grilled Artichoke and Dijon Aoli

Our appetizers were grilled artichoke with mustard aoli and grilled tomatoes on grilled ciabatta. J and I decided at the farmer's market that since neither of us have ever made a fresh artichoke, we'd do it together.  This was definitely an interesting experience!!

Grilled tomatoes with Grilled Ciabatta (and fresh basil!)

For our meal we had a fresh arugula salad with a Dijon vinaigrette and pesto on homemade pasta.  Fantastic!!

Arugula and vinaigrette

Fresh homemade EVERYTHING!! Pasta & Pest

Dessert (which I had no room for) was J's choosing--ultimate chocolate Trader Joe's ice cream and blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches, strawberries, and mango.  I do not have a picture of the dessert, but I DO have pictures of J taking pictures of her dessert! :)