Martina McBride Is a Country AND Cooking Sensation

Sometimes life just isn’t fair. You’re not supposed to be able to sell 14 million albums AND be a great cook. But alas, that’s what you get with Martina McBride. The country music superstar just happens to also be an accomplished cookbook author and her second book, Martina’s Kitchen Mix, was recently released.

Martina came by the kitchen to share a little bit about her book as well as one of her recipes. She was so sweet we might even forgive her for being good at everything.

Martina’s Gremolata

Ingredients
1 tablespoon finely chopped lightly toasted pine nuts or hazelnuts
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1⁄2 tablespoons fine, dry breadcrumbs
1 1⁄2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1⁄8 teaspoon kosher salt
Small pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Stir together the pine nuts, lemon zest, breadcrumbs, parsley, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.

Tip: Make sure your parsley is washed to remove grit, and dried well. It’s good to do this several hours before you make the gremolata, if possible, so that it can be completely dry.

ad lib: So many ways to use gremolata! Mix it into a vinaigrette, or use it to top a salad, especially arugula and shaved Parmesan. Add some oil to it and use it as a rub for chicken breasts before grilling. Replace 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs in your meatloaf mixture with 1/4 cup of gremolata for bright flavor.