Watercress Pesto Dressed Zucchini Pasta and Veggies

I imagine someone is reading this is wondering how I can call this pesto when it doesn’t include any basil. Easy, pesto does not have to include basil. The pesto that most Americans are familiar with is Genovese pesto which is made with basil but the options are endless for pesto. The word pesto comes from the Italian word pestare which translates as to crush, pound or bruise. This is because pesto is typically made in mortar and ground into a paste with the pestle. Now you can make you pesto that way if you want to go old school. Many Italians will tell you the pesto tastes better made my hand. I do have a mortar and pestle and have made it by hand. Seriously, I could not tell the difference. I use my food processor it is easier. ;-)

When I made pesto I typically (though not today) make extra to have on hand. It is great on a sandwich (made with collards for bread of course), on pizza, in a baked potato, as a coating for tofu, stirred into salad dressing, added to soup just before serving. I think you get the idea. Pesto is not just for pasta anymore.

Here is what I made today for the mid-day meal with my parents:

Watercress Pesto Dressed Zucchini Pasta and Veggies
Serves 6

Pesto Ingredients:

1 bunch watercress, approximately 4 cups lightly packed well washed and spun dry
¾ cup walnuts
¼ cup raw sunflower seeds
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
water enough to achieve the texture you want (the amount will depend on the juiciness of your lemon)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional if you want a cheesy undertone (add to taste)

Veggie Ingredients:

approximately 12 cups spiralized zucchini , it may have been more (4 big zucchini)
2 carrots, julienned
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 tomato, finely diced and drained of liquid so it doesn’t make your dish too wet

Directions:

Combine the pesto ingredients in your food processor and blender and process until smooth. Add as much water as is necessary to get a thick but creamy consistency. The nutritional yeast is optional but 2 tablespoons is enough to add a little cheesy umami background but not enough to overwhelm the sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper, as or if desired. Refrigerate until needed.

Combine the veggies and toss to distribute evenly. Add the pesto and toss again. Serve cold.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories-  209.5
Calories From Fat (53%) - 111

Total Fat - 13.31g
Saturated Fat - 1.29g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 68.88mg
Potassium - 1180.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 21.39g
Fiber - 7.94g
Sugar - 6.75g
Protein - 8.57g

Comments:

This dish is somewhat mild intentionally because my parents were coming for dinner. Since they are definitely meat and potatoes people I know there is only so much intense veggie flavor I can push on them. However if you wanted to add a few kale leaves to the pesto I think that would be great and would add to the flavor as well as nutrition.

Everyone (vegans and omnis) enjoyed this dish today. I suppose you would say it was another success. Not on the same level as using salsa for salad dressing, but a success none the less. ;-)  Anytime they eat my food and don't reach for the salt shaker or olive oil I am quite happy.

Quick Question:

Laura just bought a Saladacco and is looking for tips on how to make it easier to use. Any of you that have that particular brand of spiralizer please let us know if there are any tips or tricks you have found using it. Thanks so much!

Unrelated notes:

Poor Dan has been sequestered in his home office most of the weekend. He has come out periodically to eat or get fresh juice but mostly he has had his nose to the grindstone all weekend. I really wish he would rest a little but I know letting things get further behind would stress him out more so I am trying to understand and not fuss. *sigh* You have no idea how hard this is for me.

With my hubby working I have had the weekend to myself. I have taken the time to do a few things around the house that I normally wouldn’t get to on the weekend. Hopefully that will make Monday more laidback so that I can watch a few things on the tube. I have a few health related DVDs I want to get to soon. Shocking, right?

I need get going for now. I will talk to you all again soon. Enjoy what is left of your weekend.

Garlic Scape Pesto with Spinach, Basil and Lemon

(pictured: garlic scapes)

(pictured:  Vegan Insalata Caprese)

(pictured:  Spiralized Veggies with Scape Pesto)

For those of you that are not familiar with garlic scapes (aka scapes) they are the green curly top on the young garlic. As the garlic grows the curly top with straighten, harden and lose its green color. When it is young it has both a soft texture and flavor.

Scapes can be used in any recipe you would typically add garlic too. I like them in scrambled tofu, added to cilantro rice, included in a veggie stir fry. The options are endless. However, my favorite way to use scapes is in pesto. You can add any flavors you choose to the pesto but this is one of my favorite variations:

Garlic Scape Pesto with Spinach, Basil and Lemon
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups baby spinach
¼ cup basil leaves
2 garlic scapes, flower buds removed and minced (they have an odd texture)
½ cup walnuts, soaked for 2 hours to soften
½ lemon, zested and juiced
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Combine everything in your blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add water or lemon juice if you think the texture is too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired. The scape pesto will keep in the refrigerator for a week if a tightly sealed container.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 120.14
Calories From Fat (68%) - 81.58

Total Fat - 9.76g
Saturated Fat - 0.91g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 14.55mg
Potassium - 238.32mg
Total Carbohydrates-  7.62g
Fiber-  2.57g
Sugar - 0.76g
Protein - 3.6g

Comments:

Tonight we had the zucchini and radish pasta (which I spiralized) tossed with the scape pesto, red bell pepper and cucumbers. On the side we had my version of Insalata Caprese with fresh tomatoes, a little vegan mozzarella and a dollop of scape pesto. This was the perfect summer dinner if I say so myself, LOL.

For those of you that are curious Insalata Caprese translates to "salad in the style of the Isle of Capri". It is known in the US as Caprese salad. In Italy it is a simple salad of fresh tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil and drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. It has been a favorite of mine for as long as I can remember though in the US it almost always has more olive oil than they use in Italy.

Unrelated Note:

Guess who didn’t make anything special for dinner again last night? Clearly I am not in the cooking mood this month. This usually happens a few times a year. I seem to have lost my cooking mojo. I do have a few things going on right now that have me busier than usual. However I hope to break this streak soon and come up with something fun for dinner tomorrow. We are expected temperatures in the upper 90’s so I will probably be making something cold and probably raw tomorrow.

The magazine project is going much more slowly than I expected. I found myself wanting to look through each one to see if there were any recipes I wanted to scan. If I keep this up I will still be working on this project at Christmas.  ;-) I decided to box up the magazines and work on a few each day until I have looked through them all.

Tomorrow morning we will be going to the farmers' market to pick our CSA shares and do a little shopping. I love going to the market and can't wait to see what is there that wasn't in last week.  It is a shame I love produce shopping as much as I do, LOL.  Talk to you all again tomorrow.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Broccoli and Spinach Pesto

For Valentine’s Day my hubby wanted a pasta dish. Since I we don’t have pasta as often as we used to I obliged and made him a whole wheat pasta with healthy pesto. I used walnuts in place of pine nuts for the omega 3 fatty acids. I omitted the olive oil all together and used a little nutritional yeast to give the sauce a little cheesy umami in the background. Lemon was added to up the flavor in this low fat dish.

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Broccoli and Spinach Pesto

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 pound whole wheat spaghetti, cooked until al dente
4 cups broccoli, lightly steamed
4 cups baby spinach, raw
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
¼ cup walnuts
Water necessary to process
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine the broccoli, spinach, lemon zest and juice, garlic, nutritional yeast, and walnuts in your processor and process until smooth. Add as much water as is necessary to create a paste/sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the hot pasta and pesto together until combined. If the pesto is too thick adds some of the pasta cooking water and continue to toss until the pesto loosens enough to evenly coat the pasta.

I served this with sun-dried tomato marinara and little sprinkle of my homemade vegan parmesan.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 253.69
Calories From Fat (12%) - 29.53

Total Fat - 3.47g
Saturated Fat - 0.42g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 36.34mg
Potassium - 401.4mg
Total Carbohydrates - 48.55g
Fiber - 3.04g
Sugar - 1.43g
Protein - 11.6g

Comments:

Most pesto recipes are loaded with fat from the olive oil, nuts and cheese. This pesto is crazy healthy compared to the traditional versions. If you use oil when cooking you may want to either increase the walnuts or add a little extra virgin olive oil. We found this to be great as it was.

Each serving of this pasta contained approximately 2,200IU of vitamin A, 50mg of vitamin C, 90mg of calcium, 120mg of folate, 135mcg of vitamin K, 210mg of phosphorus, 115mg of magnesium, and 44mcg of selenium. Not too bad for 2 ounce serving of pasta with a little pesto.

Unrelated Note:

I have a crazy dish planned for tonight. It is one of those things that could go either way. Hopefully it will be worth sharing. Even if it is bust I will let you know what I did since it may spark an idea for one of you. I will be back later tonight with the recipe.

Their highnesses the felines were all well behaved today for their grooming session. Since they have long hair they don’t enjoy being brushed. But today no one was ill tempered and tried to bite or scratch. Luck must have been with me today.

I came across this recipe this morning on the Vegetarian Times site.  Since I am going to try it I thought some of you may be interested so here is the link to a Dr. Fuhrman green smoothie.