Last night I was not feeling like cooking anything exciting, but my lazy day turned up something pretty amazing. I decided to boil up some wheat pasta, but I didn't have any of the old standby canned tomatoes. I did however have some spinach and a can of artichokes, so I decided to throw it into the Vitamix and see what ensued. The result was a bright green creamy and deliciously flavorful pesto sauce. The nuts and spinach are still raw so all of the vitamins and essential oils are still in tact. Enjoy!
Spinach Artichoke Pesto Sauce
4 garlic cloves
1/2 cup whole raw walnuts
3 - 1/2 inch cubes of Parmesan cheese
1 generous cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup drained artichoke hearts
Salt and pepper to taste
-place all ingredients in a good blender or food processor in the order listed. Turn the machine on low to begin chopping the bottom ingredients (about 20 seconds), then turn your machine on high and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Continue to blend and add up to 1/2 cup of water to thin sauce to a consistency you are pleased with. Ours looked like a bright green smoothie, and it worked beautifully on the pasta.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Almond Butter
Now that Aaron is over a year old he can start eating nut butters. I have wanted to try and make some myself, and did some research to find a good recipe. Normally I would do the first thing my Vitamix cookbook suggested, but I was disappointed to read that the Almond Butter recipe called for over 2/3 cup of canola oil. If I was reading a label in the grocery store there is no way that I would purchase a nut butter with added oil, so i took to the internet.
I found lots of recipes adding butter, oil, honey etc... and many that required roasted or blanched nuts instead of raw nuts with the essential oils intact. Finally I found this recipe at www.rawmaxing.com (link below) that uses only almonds, and has very helpful photos and tips. The process takes 10 min, running the food processor for 2 min and then scraping down the sides five times. It worked so well, and was very fun. After the second scrape the almonds tasted sweet and smelled like the sweet almond extract used in cooking. The final product is a little stiff, but similar to organic peanut butter. Everyone really likes it, and Joseph has already requested having it as part of his snack tomorrow. Make some heart healthy Almond butter, have patience and enjoy. :)
http://www.rawmazing.com/recipes/raw-recipe-almond-butter/
I found lots of recipes adding butter, oil, honey etc... and many that required roasted or blanched nuts instead of raw nuts with the essential oils intact. Finally I found this recipe at www.rawmaxing.com (link below) that uses only almonds, and has very helpful photos and tips. The process takes 10 min, running the food processor for 2 min and then scraping down the sides five times. It worked so well, and was very fun. After the second scrape the almonds tasted sweet and smelled like the sweet almond extract used in cooking. The final product is a little stiff, but similar to organic peanut butter. Everyone really likes it, and Joseph has already requested having it as part of his snack tomorrow. Make some heart healthy Almond butter, have patience and enjoy. :)
http://www.rawmazing.com/recipes/raw-recipe-almond-butter/
Saturday, February 5, 2011
apple chili
The other night I was making 100 cupcakes for Joseph's 100th day of school celebration, and I had made Aaron's birthday cake, so I was pretty much tired of being in the kitchen. Keith decided he would make dinner, and he created this awesome chili that I really appreciated and had to share.
Keith's apple chili
1 yellow pepper diced
1 onion diced
4 garlic cloves minced
2 apples diced
4 cups stewed tomatoes
2 cans garbonzo beans
2 cans cannelini beans
1 can black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregono
dash cyanne pepper
dash ground mustard
1/2 tsp peprika
salt and pepper
Saute the veggies and apple in olive oil. Drain the beans, and add all the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 25 min.
Keith's apple chili
1 yellow pepper diced
1 onion diced
4 garlic cloves minced
2 apples diced
4 cups stewed tomatoes
2 cans garbonzo beans
2 cans cannelini beans
1 can black beans
2 cans pinto beans
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregono
dash cyanne pepper
dash ground mustard
1/2 tsp peprika
salt and pepper
Saute the veggies and apple in olive oil. Drain the beans, and add all the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 25 min.
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