Creamy Pesto Sauce (Oil Free and Vegan!)

Perhaps my best discovery in this CSA adventure so far has been pesto.  It never occurred to me in my pre-CSA days to make pesto out of anything but basil.  Actually, it never even occurred to me to make my own pesto at all (versus getting it from a jar or, worse, a “packet”).

But, since starting the CSA, I learned, quickly -- and to my repeated joy -- that any dark, leafy green mixed with water, olive oil, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and nuts will make a stellar pesto.  See, for example, my recipes here, here, and here.

But, in keeping with my overall healthy eating plan, I usually try to avoid using too much oil.  The amount of oil going into my pesto recipes was, admittedly, outrageous (a cup or more!).  So, I decided to see how pesto would taste with no oil at all. 

As it turns out: Still delicious.

Here was my recipe, which made use of all the dark, leafy greens I received in my most recent CSA delivery.

Water

½ pound of whole-wheat pasta

1 cup raw, unsalted cashews

1 bunch beet greens, stems removed

1 bunch radish greens, stems removed

1 bunch carrot greens, stems removed

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bulb of a spring onion, chopped

First, soak the cashews in water, as if making a cashew cream sauce.  Set aside.  [Soaking at least an hour is recommended to get the creamiest texture; if you don’t have a Vitamix or a bullet-style blender, it could take far longer than an hour (perhaps even overnight) to get the cashews soft enough to “cream.”] 

Start a pot of water boiling for the pasta.

Blend the beet greens, radish greens, and carrot greens together with enough water to allow them to blend.  The beet and radish greens may get closer to a puree, but the carrot greens will lend some chunkiness.  Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the blended greens.  Remove the blended greens from the blender, placing them in a strainer over a bowl for a few minutes to strain out the excess water (I wouldn’t press the greens; the raw greens could get “bruised”).  Set aside.

[The water that comes out is essentially green juice.  You could drink it, if you’re so inclined.  I tasted it and was not so inclined, despite liking green juice generally.  I think it was the salty beet greens that turned me off.]

Blend the cashews with water until they reach a creamy consistency.  Set aside.

Place some water in a skillet and cook the garlic and the onion.  When the onion is starting to turn translucent, add the cashew cream.  Allow to heat through.  Add the blended greens.  Stir to combine thoroughly and allow to heat through.

Serve the pesto over the whole-wheat pasta.  I topped mine with cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt (like cashew cream sauce generally, I find it does need a pinch of salt).

The bottom line: Pesto doesn’t have to use oil.  This creamy version gets all its fat from a whole food (cashews) and is just as delicious as every other pesto I’ve made!

Macerated Wood Straberries

I loved reading “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan.  But I have to admit that I skimmed with some degree of boredom over his chapters about foraging. 

I don’t eat mushrooms (I don’t like them), so I couldn’t empathize with the foragers’ joy upon discovering morels.  “You stumbled upon some fungus!  Better you than me!”

But, more than anything, I just didn’t think that foraging applied to me. 

First, I’m entirely too practical.  I couldn’t imagine spending all day looking for something I might never find.  Second, I live in a suburbia.  No one forages in suburbia.  Aside from some honeysuckles along the edges of my elementary school yard (whose nectar I used to enjoy during recess) I have never, ever foraged for anything.  I didn’t think there was anything to find.  “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” convinced me that it was possible to forage in fertile, hippy places like California.  But I didn’t assume it was possible in Maryland, where I live.

I WAS WRONG.

I was out playing with my kids in our backyard last weekend.  Playing in the grass with a one-year-old and a three-year-old is perhaps the most relaxing and wonderful activity in all of humanity.  It’s a license for a grown adult to lay down, roll around, smell the earth, enjoy the breeze, and listen to the rustling of trees overhead.  [When we’re stuck at work in our cubicles on a beautiful day, isn’t that all we’re dreaming of?]

It was during such a frolic that I noticed something unusual just a few feet away from where we were playing, in a spot where the grass gives way to trees.  Is that a…strawberry?

Once I saw one, I saw dozens – a whole patch of wild strawberries – so many, in fact, that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t ever noticed them before.  My three-year-old went nuts.  “Dada,” she called, “WE FOUND STRAWBERRIES!”

As an inexperienced forager, I knew I needed to confirm the edibility of the berries before I just dove in.  Especially with the girls.  So, I went inside and consulted the wisdom of the Internet.

I learned (from various sites, as I looked for confirmation from multiple sources) that what I had found were “wood strawberries.”  I learned that I should not expect them to taste as sweet as a cultivated strawberry, or to be as big.  I learned that they’re entirely edible and, in fact, that there are no poisonous berries that resemble strawberries at all.  So, the Internet told me, if you have wood strawberries, go ahead and eat them before the birds do.  But don’t expect them to be particularly tasty.

I grabbed baskets for the girls and off we went to forage.  I have never been so excited.  Hyper-local wild strawberries!  Michael Pollan, I get it now!

The girls had a blast filling their baskets with the easy-to-pick berries.  My little one is only fourteen months old, but she immediately knew what to do.  [I would say that we must be born with a hunter/gatherer instinct, but she also knows how to swipe the screen of an iPhone; I suspect that is more nurture than nature.]

Most of the strawberries never made it into the baskets – we ate them right off the plants.  In truth, they were not as sweet as cultivated strawberries.  But they were still good.  Of the ones that made it into the baskets, most never made it into the house.

But a few did. 

And because they didn’t have much sweetness of their own, I decided to macerate them to add a touch of sugar and bring out the natural sweetness and juices of the berries.

Handful of wild/wood strawberries

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon of fresh lemon zest (grate the outside of a lemon)

½ cup of non-fat Greek yogurt

Put the strawberries, honey, and balsamic vinegar in a bowl and stir them, mashing the strawberries slightly.  Allow them to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. 

Serve the macerated strawberries over yogurt with a sprinkle of lemon zest. 

You will enjoy them, for sure, because, as I discovered, there is an odd sense when eating foraged food that it was put there, by nature, just for you.  I’m pretty sure, if I had paid a little more attention, that’s what Michael Pollan was trying to tell me all along.

Kale Pasta Salad

I served my kale salad at a party last weekend and created quite a stir!  My friends have been making the salad and sharing it with their friends.

I couldn't be happier!

Everyone should eat more kale.  It's delicious and good for you!

I eat kale with freshly squeezed lemon juice, olive oil (I have a chipotle-infused oil that I love), freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and cracked black pepper almost daily.  Tonight, I tossed the kale salad with some leftover, cold, whole-wheat pasta for an easy variation on the theme that feels like more of a complete meal.

The possibilities for kale salads are endless!

Garlic Scape Pesto

I'm learning that making a fresh pesto is as easy as blending up whatever greens and garlic you may have on hand with some lemon, nuts, olive oil, and water.  No special measurements needed.

For this pesto, I used some lovely garlic scapes from my CSA in place of mature garlic.  [Garlic scapes, I learned, are the "thinnings" from the garden.  To grow garlic (or anything else, really) you plant a bunch of seeds, and then pick some of the shoots to thin them out as they grow.]

For the greens, I used kale and beet greens.  My bullet-style blender is small, so I blended the greens and garlic with the lemon, oil, and water, and put the results in a bowl.  Then I blended the walnuts with some oil and water and mixed the result into the same bowl.  It made for an artsy and unusual pesto presentation that tasted just the same as regular pesto when spooned over whole-wheat pasta.

Asparagus Mushroom Soup

This soup was so easy, I think it counts as fast food.  In fact, the instructions for presentation are more complicated than the recipe itself.

1 bunch of asparagus (an amount that you can hold easily in two hands)
1 portobello mushroom
4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (preferably homemade)
6 heaping teaspoons of fat-free Greek yogurt
lemon zest, to taste
cracked black pepper, to taste

Chop up the asparagus, reserving a few of the prettiest tips for garnish.  Chop up the mushroom.  Toss both in a pot with the chicken broth.

Bring to a boil, and allow to cook (at a boil) for about ten minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before putting it in a blender.  Blend until smooth.  [If you have a blender that also heats, you can make this recipe in said blender without stopping to cool.]

Ladle into bowls and put 1 heaping teaspoon of fat-free Greek yogurt into each bowl.  Top with lemon zest, black pepper, and asparagus tips.  Enjoy this tart and tangy, earthy and green treat!

Grilled Carrots with Carrot-Greens Pesto

If you Google “carrot greens,” you will come up with a lot of conflicting information about whether or not they’re edible.  I didn’t find any sufficiently authoritative source (a public-health organization like a hospital or a government agency) saying that carrot greens were toxic, but I did find a number of bloggers who posted recipes using carrot greens, and who lived to blog again.

After two weeks of cautiously using carrot greens only for making stock (can you see them in the pictures here and here?), I decided to try a straight-up, carrot-greens recipe.  My husband and I both ate this for dinner on Thursday and -- I’m pleased to report -- survived.

I took the fabulous idea for grilled carrots with carrot greens pesto from Not Eating Out in New York.  I agree with her wholeheartedly that this dish “just makes sense somehow.”  I followed her recipe almost exactly (halving the carrots, blanching the greens, etc.), but used my own pesto recipe (excluding the kale and rosemary).  Actually, my own recipe is remarkably similar to hers, with only the addition of some fresh lemon juice and the omission of salt. 

I served the carrots as a side dish to plain, baked chicken, and put the pesto all over both the carrots and the chicken.  It was amazing.  In contrast to last week’s kale pesto, which blended into a smooth, creamy sauce, the carrot-greens pesto retained the chunkiness that is more characteristic of a typical (basil-based) pesto sauce.  The carrot greens have a fresh, herby, “carrot-y” flavor that is hard to describe but easy to appreciate. 

Even my husband liked the carrots and pesto, though he did complain at the outset that carrot greens are not food, and that they are meant to be thrown away.  The funny thing is, I left about a quarter inch of greens attached to the carrots, and my husband left those behind on his plate.  I pointed out to him that leaving the attached greens behind was silly; they were, after all, the same greens that formed the pesto.  In response, he reiterated his position that one does not eat carrot greens, and then asked me if I was a rabbit.  Some fights are not worth having: He was taking a big bite of pesto covered chicken as he said it.   

This was a great recipe that I’ll definitely make again.  That is, of course, if I live that long after having eaten carrot greens in the first place.

Avgolemono

This week's stock: chicken.

I pulled all the meat off of the leftover Roasted Lemon Garlic Herb Chicken and set it aside.  Then I put the carcass into a stock pot, along with all my veggies trimmings from the week, and made a rich, wonderful stock.

I tasked my husband with finding a chicken soup recipe that he'd like to try.  He came up with Avgolemono from the January 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  It turned out to be the perfect choice, because I had lemon garlic chicken to add to this lemon garlic soup!

I followed the original recipe pretty closely, using slightly less oil and omitting the salt.  For garnish, I used sage and thyme, which I had on hand, instead parsley and basil.  And it was amazing.  My husband claimed this was the best soup he had in a long time.  Maybe even ever.

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
6 and 1/2 cups of low-sodium chicken stock (preferably homemade!)
1/2 cup uncooked rice (I used wild rice)
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
2 tablespoons thyme
2 tablespoons sage

Put olive oil in a pan and brown onions and garlic.

Add onions and garlic to a large pot and add stock.  Bring to a boil and then add rice.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Combine juice, cornstarch, pepper, and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Slowly pour egg mixture into the pot, stirring constantly with a whisk.

Add chicken to the pot.  Cook until the soup thickens and the rice is done (about 5 more minutes).

Serve with thyme and sage on top.

Roasted Lemon Garlic Herb Chicken

I am really starting to love roasting whole chickens.  They turn out so much juicier and more delicious when cooked from scratch that way.  [Chickens should, of course, be free range and pastured.]

My most recent bird was rubbed with 2 cloves of garlic, the juice of 2 lemons, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cracked black pepper (to taste), and some snips of fresh sage and fresh thyme, all of which I muddled together with a mortar and pestle.

I stuffed the bird with the quartered lemons from which I had squeezed the juice, and the woody sprigs from which I had stripped the sage and thyme leaves.  Then I cooked it at 400 degrees for an hour and fifteen minutes.

The resulting meat was so fragrant that I didn't even stop to photograph it before tasting!

Lemony Asparagus Quinoa

1 cup of (dry) quinoa, well rinsed

2 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth (preferably homemade!)

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons of olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped spring (green) onions

1 cup of asparagus, broken into 1-inch pieces (reserve tougher bottom pieces for another use)

I think quinoa is amazing because it “feels” like you’re eating a carb-tastic grain when you’re really eating a protein-packed seed.  You can cook it in water but, just like rice, it is more flavorful if cooked in vegetable broth. 

I had red quinoa on hand and used it for this dish, but any variety would do.  Set the quinoa and broth on the stove, cover, bring to a boil, and then reduce to low.  It will take about 15 minutes to cook.

In the meantime, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, and spring onions in a small bowl to make a lemony dressing.  When the quinoa is done, put it into a large bowl and toss it with all of the dressing.  Add the asparagus and toss to combine.  Serve warm or cold (leftover) as a fresh-tasting, spring side dish that appropriately celebrates the arrival of asparagus.

Spring Greens and Rosemary Pesto Pasta

Basil isn't in season yet, but that doesn't mean you have to forego fresh pesto sauce!  This version substitutes kale for basil, and is really amazing.

1 pound of whole-wheat pasta
3-4 cups kale, stems removed
1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup of walnuts
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Sprigs of fresh rosemary

Start a pot of water for the pasta.  Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, put kale, olive oil, cheese, walnuts, garlic, and lemon juice in a high-powered blender.  Blend until smooth.  Top with rosemary.

Drain the pasta and serve with sauce, additional Parmesan cheese, and cracked black pepper.

Who needs basil?!

Garlicky, Lemony Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad

I haven't been eating very well for the past couple of days.

Restaurant and convenience foods came back into my life in a big way in the past week or so.  With a stressful job and two kids, something's gotta give sometimes.  I'm okay with that.

But I'm learning the hard way that rich, salty, sugary, fatty foods don't agree with a healthy body.  I've had an upset stomach and a headache, and felt extremely sluggish, for the past few days.  It's no way to feel when you have a to-do list as big as mine.

So it was time to get back on track.

I wanted to make something outrageously healthy and fresh to remind my body what good food is all about.

I combined Bethesda Locavore's Garlicky, Lemony, Kale Salad recipe (I love her "nothing gets measured/everything gets tossed" style...) with Bon Appetit's Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad.  I read both recipes and then did my own thing.  I basically used Bethesda Locavore's recipe, but with the additions of Brussels sprouts and almonds from Bon Appetit.

The result was a bright and happy salad that seemed to have no place as a seasonal recipe in gloomy February.  It was like eating sunshine itself.  Which is, of course, the entire point of eating food at all.

The recipe is simple: Put all this stuff in a bowl and toss, according to your hunger and taste:

Kale, chopped
Raw Brussels sprouts, chopped
Juice of one lemon
Olive oil
Clove of garlic, crushed
Freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Raw almonds
Black pepper

I was so excited to eat this, I just put a fork in the mixing bowl and chowed down.  I didn't even bother with a serving bowl.  :-)

Beef and Greens Masala

Lest I give the impression that I now eat exclusively home-cooked, from-scratch food for every meal, I wanted to share what I eat when I do eat packaged, processed food.  It's increasingly rare for me to eat this way, but we all have our busy weeknights when nothing else will work.

Trader Joe's is my saving grace.  I am a compulsive label reader for processed foods, and I find that Trader Joe's food is cleaner than most.  Their convenience foods are tasty, inexpensive, and -- for the most part -- up to my exacting standards in terms of lack of chemical ingredients and minimal added salt, sugar, fat, etc.

Tonight's dinner came together in one skillet in fifteen minutes.

1 pound Trader Joe's shaved beef
1 bag Trader Joe's "Southern Greens Blend" (mustard, turnip, collards, spinach)
2 jars Masala Simmer Sauce
1 cup of water

Put the beef in the skillet over medium-high heat.  Add as many of the greens as will fit (about half the bag).  When the greens start to wilt and there is more room, add the rest of the greens.  When the beef is just about cooked (5 minutes), add the two jars of sauce and one cup of water.  Simmer for ten minutes.  Serve.

Assuming four servings, you can expect to get the following nutritional value from this "fast food."
About 75 percent of your Vitamin A
About 50 percent of your Vitamin C
About 20 percent of your Calcium
About 30 percent of your Iron

Meanwhile, you will have consumed only:
300 calories (15 percent of a 2,000-calories a day diet)
20 percent of your daily value of fat
30 percent of your daily value of saturated fat
25 percent of your daily value of sodium

Who needs a Lean Cuisine?!

Baba Ganoush

Did I mention that I hate eggplant?

The thought of the mushy, seedy, watery vegetable in fridge was making me a little queazy, honestly.  But I bought it, so I had to cook it.  I decided to go with the camouflage technique and try to put it into some unsuspecting hummus.

I've tried to make hummus before and haven't been very successful.  It never tastes quite right.  And I didn't expect it to this time, either.  I could have sworn I had tahini (sesame seed paste) in the house, but I didn't.  So I had to sub-in peanut butter, which just seemed weird.  I added a little sesame oil to make up for it.

An in-auspicious start when collecting up ingredients.  My hopes were not high.

I first cut the offending eggplant in half and put it in the oven to roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Then, I drained and rinsed some organic canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans).  I whirred them up with some water in the baby-food maker, and promptly put half the batch into three little containers for the baby.  It's nice to be able to cook for everyone at the same time!

I put the remaining chickpea puree into a bowl, and then added about a tablespoon and a half of natural peanut butter, a dab of sesame seed oil, about a 1/4 cup of olive oil, a teaspoon of garlic, and the juice of one lemon.  Then I snipped in some fresh parsley.  I whirred it all up.

When the eggplant was finished roasting, I took it out of the oven and cut it into chunks to cool.  [I planned to use the eggplant skins, as I understand they have disease-fighting properties.]

I whirred the chunked eggplant up with some water and then added the eggplant puree (which bore no resemblance to the seedy mess it started out as) to the chickpea mixture.  I stirred them together with a spoon, tasted, and decided to throw in a pinch of salt.

Voila!  A light and airy version of hummus that is excellent served with an extra drizzle of olive oil and a dash of paprika.  It was pretty good in its own right (if maybe a little peanutty), but not great compared to Lebanese-restaurant hummus or baba ganoush.  As I expected, unfortunately.

But the eggplant has been cooked and is surprisingly edible, so it's a win!