Summer Pasta in Cashew Pesto Sauce
- At August 21, 2009
- By megan
- In pasta, pesto
0
I’m calling this dish “Summer Pasta” even though it resembles the famous spring pasta, Pasta Primavera. In Colorado, there is no chance of having fresh, local, outdoor grown tomatoes and peppers until well into the summer, so here we have summer pasta.
Follow the recipe for Cashew Pesto. Any kind of pest0 will do, but I’m very fond of cashew pesto right now.
For the pasta- boil up some penne, some shells, whatever you like. I always use whole wheat pasta. I added some fresh, raw, chopped purple pepper, sliced yellow tomatoes, and rinsed and drained cannellini beans. Mix together, coat in pesto, and enjoy.
Cashew Pesto- a photo
- At August 20, 2009
- By megan
- In pesto
- 0
Here is a close up of my toasted cashew pesto.
Go to the Cashew Pesto recipe.
Bourbon Maple BBQ Tofu
As always, the tofu mantra goes like this:
Firm tofu, freeze it, thaw it, press it, cut it, flavor it, cook it.
Here’s the recipe for my Bourbon Maple BBQ Sauce:
- 1/4 cup mustard
- 1/3 cup real, pure maple syrup
- 1/2-1 shot Bourbon (it will have a kick, so use less if you are nervous or weary)
- 2 TB Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 TB apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp paprika
- fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Mix all this for the BBQ sauce.
To make the tofu, pour 1/2-3/4 of the sauce in a separate bowl. Add 1/2 cup water and mix well. Add the tofu and let it marinate for an hour or so. Throw on the grill for 5 minutes on each side and enjoy with some extra BBQ sauce.
Simple Fresh Corn-off-the-cob Salad
The peaches and cream corn on the cob at Munson Farm are so sweet and delicious, I made this corn salad and served it with nothing more than salt and pepper.
Ingredients:
- 4 cobs of corn (I used peaches and cream, but any fresh, local corn will surely taste great)
- 1 green pepper
- 1 jalapeño pepper
- 1 large tomato (I used 2 medium sized- one red, one yellow)
- 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Remove the corn husks and strands of silk. Add the corn cobs to salted boiling water and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the hot water and allow a minute or two to cool and drain.
With a sharp knife, slicing away from you, shave the kernels off of the cobs into a large bowl. Add chopped pepper, jalapeño, tomato, and the kidney beans. Mix well. Salt and pepper to taste. This salad needs nothing more, nothing less.
Not-So-Unhealthy-Chocolate Cupcakes
The chocolate cake part of this dessert is vegan and takes 5-6 minutes to put together. For this particular batch, I made a maple cream cheese icing just for fun.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I prefer to use Scharffen Berger for all of my chocolate needs)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- a pinch of sea salt
- 1/3- 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice (I usually use 1/3 cup)
- 1/2 cup walnut oil
- 1 cup cold brewed coffee
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 5 tsp apple cider vinegar
icing:
3 TB cream cheese
3 TB butter
3 TB maple syrup
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the coffee, walnut oil, and vanilla extract. Measure out the vinegar into a small dish and set aside. Pour the coffee/oil mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Finally, add the vinegar and mix until it is just combined. Do not over mix this.
You can bake this as a cake, make cupcakes, or use whatever baking dish you prefer. Just be warned: this cake does not easily come out of the dish, so if you are planning to bake a chocolate cake that will stand on its own outside of the dish, you might look for a different recipe. I usually make cupcakes.
Lightly oil your baking dish and bake at 375. Cupcakes take 15-20 minutes, a cake will be 25 minutes or so. They’re done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
For the maple cream cheese frosting: Put all 3 ingredients in the KitchenAid mixer and whip a few minutes until light and frosting-like. Spoon some on, or get fancy and decorate as you like.
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