This morning when I started rooting around the refrigerator looking for something I could bring to work for lunch, I realized I had more in the produce drawer than I'd remembered. True, I was almost out of both lettuce and kale, which made me sad. But I did have some spinach and quite a few fresh herbs: basil, parsley, cilantro. I decided to whip up a raw vegan pesto to serve with zucchini.
Ingredients:
1 small bunch spinach
1 generous handful basil
1/3 cup or so sunflower seeds
1/3 cup or so pecans
1/4 cup or so olive oil (Measuring cups don't get much use around here.)
1 large clove garlic
about a quarter teaspoon salt, or to taste
I didn't pre-soak the nuts or seeds because this was a spur of the moment cooking adventure. Didn't kill me, or even injure me slightly. Yeah, soaking nuts and seeds is a good idea, but if you forgot it's not the end of the world.
First I pulsed the garlic, sunflower seeds and pecans in the food processor until they were finely chopped. Then I added my greens, and processed everything a few seconds more until it was well blended. This gave me a chance to gauge how much olive oil I'd need for a good pesto consistency. I added \the oil and salt, and processed everything until the oil was incorporated. Voila! Pesto.
I had two small summer squashes from the farmers market which I'd planned on using as a vehicle for some kind of sauce. Because I don't have a mandolin or a spiralizer, I normally turn them into something vaguely reminiscent of noodles with a vegetable peeler. But today I coarsely grated them, salted them, then let them sit about fifteen minutes. Did you ever swim in a leech-infested pond, then pour salt on your leeches when you were done? (Have I just over-shared?) The salt draws the moisture out of the leeches until they resemble the final moments of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. Likewise, salt draws moisture from zucchini and other raw vegetables. So after fifteen minutes, I rinsed the salt off the grated zucchini and pressed out the excess water. For lunch I mixed the zucchini with a big glob of pesto. It wasn't pretty, but it was really good. Even my Italian foodie boss said so.
After work my neighbor invited me to help myself to her bountiful ripe blueberries (yay for edible landscaping). So I had a big bowl of blueberries, then an hour later a cabbage/carrot/golden raisin salad with a mustard vinaigrette.
Today's Chow:
breakfast smoothie with banana, avocado, raw cacao powder, very little honey blended with water. This is richer than my usual breakfast smoothie, but on Sundays I often have to go six or seven hours before lunch, and this smoothie reliably sees me through.
zucchini and pesto
blueberries
cabbage/carrot/raisin salad
Ingredients:
1 small bunch spinach
1 generous handful basil
1/3 cup or so sunflower seeds
1/3 cup or so pecans
1/4 cup or so olive oil (Measuring cups don't get much use around here.)
1 large clove garlic
about a quarter teaspoon salt, or to taste
I didn't pre-soak the nuts or seeds because this was a spur of the moment cooking adventure. Didn't kill me, or even injure me slightly. Yeah, soaking nuts and seeds is a good idea, but if you forgot it's not the end of the world.
First I pulsed the garlic, sunflower seeds and pecans in the food processor until they were finely chopped. Then I added my greens, and processed everything a few seconds more until it was well blended. This gave me a chance to gauge how much olive oil I'd need for a good pesto consistency. I added \the oil and salt, and processed everything until the oil was incorporated. Voila! Pesto.
I had two small summer squashes from the farmers market which I'd planned on using as a vehicle for some kind of sauce. Because I don't have a mandolin or a spiralizer, I normally turn them into something vaguely reminiscent of noodles with a vegetable peeler. But today I coarsely grated them, salted them, then let them sit about fifteen minutes. Did you ever swim in a leech-infested pond, then pour salt on your leeches when you were done? (Have I just over-shared?) The salt draws the moisture out of the leeches until they resemble the final moments of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz. Likewise, salt draws moisture from zucchini and other raw vegetables. So after fifteen minutes, I rinsed the salt off the grated zucchini and pressed out the excess water. For lunch I mixed the zucchini with a big glob of pesto. It wasn't pretty, but it was really good. Even my Italian foodie boss said so.
After work my neighbor invited me to help myself to her bountiful ripe blueberries (yay for edible landscaping). So I had a big bowl of blueberries, then an hour later a cabbage/carrot/golden raisin salad with a mustard vinaigrette.
Today's Chow:
breakfast smoothie with banana, avocado, raw cacao powder, very little honey blended with water. This is richer than my usual breakfast smoothie, but on Sundays I often have to go six or seven hours before lunch, and this smoothie reliably sees me through.
zucchini and pesto
blueberries
cabbage/carrot/raisin salad
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