Weekend is here.

Arugula pesto that I whipped up with 1/2 a bag of arugula, walnuts, garlic, olive oil and a touch of lemon and salt.

Quick pan grilled portobellos and veggies.

Vegenaise and pesto on both sides of the delicious French bread.

Stackin it up.

Amazing. The lettuce was a fresh compliment to the juicy Portobello, flavorful veggies and oily pesto.

Yum.

Snack time: homemade hummus and pita.

Dashed over to the local Indian market for some imported yummies for the weekend! 

Grilled Veggie Sandwich & Vegan Chocolate Pots!

Zucchini, red peppers, yellow onion and mushrooms.

Pesto made in my mortar and pestle. I never use my mortar and pestle and I've been inspired by Jamie Oliver's cooking and he uses it all the time so I decided to make my pesto this way. I bashed the almonds and garlic first then added chopped basil and pounded until it all came together. I left it coarse and then added olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Vegan mayo and pesto spread on baguette.

Assembling. Added some fresh arugula too.

SO GOOOD!

Vegan chocolate pots, a recipe by Jamie Oliver. I really loved the taste and texture of this. Thick, yet fluffy and rich. I used soft tofu instead of silken which is why my pudding is so thick. Topped with Coconut Whip!

Mmmm.

Grilled Portobello Sandwich, Pesto Pasta Salad, Scones

Grilled portobello, red pepper, red onions on toasted whole grain bread with Vegenaise, arugula pesto and fresh arugula. Amazing sandwich.

Served with arugula pesto pasta salad.

Arugula and spinach pesto mixed with Vegenaise made a great pasta salad dressing.

Cranberry and raisin scones.

Fried Rice and Avocado Pesto Pasta

I whipped up this fried rice from last night's brown rice, the leftover veggies, added some broccoli, tofu, onions, garlic, ginger, mushroom soy sauce and ketchup. Threw it all into the wok on high and dinner was ready in minutes.


I made this dish over the weekend which was inspired by Giada DeLaurentis' avocado and arugula pesto. I made mine with less arugula, more basil and instead of parmesan, I used almonds and miso paste.

VeganMoFo: Tofutti Cheese Quesadilla, Cilantro Basil Pesto Spaghetti

A quick quesadilla I made this morning with Tofutti American style vegan cheese. If I had a superior vegan cheese like Daiya or Follow Your Heart, I would have used those because they melt much better. But this did just fine for my breakfast.


1 bunch of cilantro + a handful of fresh basil + slivered almonds + garlic + olive oil + lemon juice makes a great pesto. I tossed it with thin spaghetti and added a smattering of olives. Very quick, easy and tasty weeknight pasta dinner.

Pasta with Pesto and Roasted Vegetables

Today's lunch was a breeze. I used yesterday's leftover pesto and roasted veggies and added them to pasta. I also added olives and lemon juice. Delicious!

Pita Pizzas & Penne with Walnut-Dill Pesto

I'm really enjoying all of these mediterranean foods I've been eating. I already know that a lot of the ingredients in mediterranean cooking are very healthy and should be eaten as often as possible. Fresh vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fruits and all of the wonderful flavorings like garlic, olive oil, spices, herbs just make this the most wonderful kind of cooking in my book.


Last night for dinner I made pita pizzas using whole wheat pita bread, tomato sauce, fresh sliced tomatoes, red onions, mushrooms, tangy black olives, faux feta and oregano. Delicious!


For lunch today I made this tasty penne dish with walnut-dill pesto, sauteed garlic, eggplant, zucchini, tomato, mushrooms and olives. A gorgeous symphony of flavors!

VeganMoFo: Spaghetti, Tunisian-Style

Last night's dinner was wonderful! I got to open up my Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The Middle East and North Africa cookbook that I've only used twice before. I love this book. I take it everywhere with me, to my room, the living room, kitchen, studio...just to flip through it for inspiration. Yesterday I decided on a recipe and luckily I had almost every ingredient. The book says that according to some modern food writers, pasta in the Arab lands has an ancient history and may have been invented in Mesopotamia where it traveled to China via traders and onwards to Italy by Marco Polo. This particular dish though may be of Italian origin, brought to Tunisia by Italian settlers. It is very similar to italian pesto but the ingredients are different. The sauce is a blend of almonds, fresh parsley, basil, garlic, olive oil, butter (I used Earth Balance margarine), dried oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese (I used a vegan blend of cashews, miso paste and nutritional yeast). A very delicious sauce paired with spaghetti. I squeezed lemon on top of my pasta for a bright finish. Husband gave this two thumbs up. It's a keeper!

Pizza Pizza.

Pizza day. Made this a half hour before the game on tv (Dodgers vs. Rangers). I was in the mood for two kinds of pizza. I made a hawaiian style on one side with vegan pepperoni, pineapple, onions and olives...and the other side sliced tomatoes, kale pesto (that I had in the freezer) and olives. There's also some vegan mozzarella underneath everything. This pizza was absolutely delicious! I was a pig and had about 3-4 slices.


You can see the cheese better in this shot.

Really Good Sandwich...I Mean Really Good.

Wow, this was so flipping good! Not the healthiest sandwich around but if you're going to indulge on a weekend with a great sandwich, some chips and a ballgame on tv (go Dodgers!), why not make it really really tasty? It's got a bunch of good stuff in it: veggie turkey slices (Smart Deli brand), spinach-walnut pesto that I made early this morning, tomatoes, pepperoncini, olive salad that I made as well (which you can see in the little bowl in front), lettuce, red peppers, vegan mayo, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper, all on fresh ciabatta bread. Amazing. About the olive salad: I have no idea what a traditional olive salad has in it but I quickly made mine up with kalamata olives, green olives stuffed with garlic, more garlic, onions, olive oil and red wine vinegar.

Kale Pesto Linguine and Thai Coffee Agar Dessert!

I've never made pesto with kale before. I've made it with basil of course, broccoli, arugula, cilantro and spinach. I had two big bunches of kale in my fridge that needed using up so I decided to give it a go. I processed fresh kale with walnuts, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and a little bit of salt. It came out nice and creamy but was quite bitter. I was a little disappointed. I ended up sauteeing some tomatoes and garlic in olive oil and added the pesto to the pan to cook it out a bit. It lost a lot of the bitterness as a result so I was good to go. I tossed it with hot linguine and topped it with "Parmezano Sprinkle" (almonds, nutritional yeast, miso, salt).

For dessert I had Thai coffee flavored jelly agar dessert. If you remember the last one I made, this is the same thing just a different flavor. It was so delicious. I like coffee flavored everything so this was a treat. This flavor worked much better with the sliced bananas.

Pesto on Pizza and Baked Goodies.

Everytime I order a pizza delivery, I always always make a pesto sauce to dollop on top. It's so yummy and will probably always be the way I eat delivery pizza forever. Husband called me up from work and suggested pizzas for dinner. I said yes but then thought "Oh no! I have nothing to make pesto with!" No basil, no spinach... So I got creative with some edamame and cilantro. The result was lovely. I think this sauce will go really well with pasta.


Edamame Cilantro Lime Pesto

1/2 cup cooked edamame, shelled
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup walnuts
handful of cilantro leaves
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup olive oil or more
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process to desired consistency. Add more olive oil or water if you want a thinner pesto.


Tomorrow we are visiting some friends who we haven't seen for a while and I wanted to bring something for them for the holidays. I made Isa's Mocha Chip Muffins (but made them into a loaf) and also her Chocolate Chip Cookies. I haven't tried either of them yet as they are gifts but they are so beautiful. Check it out!





EDIT: I just sampled one of the cookies. OMG! Heaven....

Pesto Primavera Spaghetti

Excuse the poor flash photo. This was dinner and may I say it was really yummy. I made my spinach lime pesto during the weekend to put on top of pizza so I had a lot leftover to make this. I cooked up some broccoli, swiss chard, red and yellow peppers and tossed them with multigrain spaghetti and the pesto. I added some fresh parsley, black olives and extra olive oil and garlic as well. This was my first try with the Safeway Eating Right brand of multigrain spaghetti and I actually really liked it. It had a good texture and was unlike any whole grain pasta I've had in the past (gross, dense and just yuck.). It also didn't stick together which was quite nice. I think I will buy this from now on instead of regular spaghetti. One day I'd like to try brown rice pasta as well. That just sounds really good to me and so much healthier.

EDIT: Stupid me, I didn't read the packaging at the store and this brand of pasta is NOT VEGAN. It contains egg whites. Damn! Oh well, guess I'll have to find a new brand.

Spinach Lime Pesto on Pizza and Pasta

Last night on Election night, I wanted to kick back on the couch, turn on CNN and have some take out pizza. But first I needed to whip up this easy spinach lime pesto to put on top!


Isn't it so neon? It really was that color in real life. Pizza is from Grandma Lucia's and has eggplant, broccoli, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and basil.


Tonight I took the last bit of pesto I had left and tossed it with hot pasta, black olives and pinenuts. (Sorry for the flash photo!)

Spinach Lime Pesto

1/4 cup slivered almonds
2-3 handfuls of spinach leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender until it's either a coarse paste or completely creamy and smooth. Your choice.

Cilantro Lime Pesto

I love pesto and as much as I love traditional pesto made with basil and pine nuts, I like to try other variations too. I've made pesto with broccoli before and it was awesome on pizza. I had a giant bunch of cilantro in my fridge that I thought would be good to use up in one go via a pesto sauce. This was amazing. It has a nice bright flavor with citrus undertone from the lime. Try it on spaghetti!

Cilantro Lime Pesto

1 big bunch of cilantro leaves (discard stems)
1/4 C slivered almonds
juice of one large lime
2 cloves (or more) of garlic
2 TB nutritional yeast (optional)
olive oil
water
salt and pepper to taste

Put the cilantro, almonds, lime juice, garlic and nutritional yeast (if using) in a blender or food processor. Process until all ingredients are broken down. Start adding the olive oil and process until it is the consistency you want it. You may add a bit of water too if you want to cut back on the oil. Just add it a tablespoon at a time so it won't be too thin. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


Here's mine. My blender really blitzed my pesto into smooth cream. You can gently process yours so that it has more texture than this.


Tossed with hot spaghetti and pine nuts. Delicious!