Linguine with pea-pesto

Sometimes I stand in kitchen with so much ideas on mind to try or prepare, but I have to decide. Then I ended up to prepare first something for saturday lunch, more to prepare later on. And so it came. 

If started with the fasted idea and right after having cleaned up the dishs I went on with other stuff to prepare. 

Well back to the lunchmeal. There are vegetable I mostly buy canned (shame on me, sorry) - but it's just much faster than pulling the peas from the pod. Since having a week off from work, there is plenty of time for pulling. No excuses for canned peas. 

It was worth the work as I sensed the fresh peas stronger than canned ones. 

Of course Pea-pesto is not a normal pesto, but worth trying. Probably next time I will add a garlic knob to the pesto. 

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Linguine with Pea-pesto 

4 Persons
30 min

Ingredients:
500 g Pasta, for exemple Linguine

Pesto:
400 g fresh peas in the pod, triggered or frozen/canned 150 g peas
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch cilantro
100 g pine nuts
1 dl olive oil
1 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper

Preparation:
First for the pesto solve the peas from the pod. 

In plenty salted cooking water cook the peas till soft, with a perforated ladle scoop the peas out, deter cold and drain well. KEEP THE SALTED WATER! Set a few on the side for garnishing. 

Process the rest peas together with parsley, cilantro, pine nuts, lemon juice and oil into a pesto, season salt and pepper. Set aside. 

In the remaining salted water cook pasta according to package direction until al dente. 

When done drain and give back into the pan. Mix under the pesto, season with plenty of pepper and garnish with the set aside peas, dizzle some oil over and serve.

Enjoy!

Vegan Cauliflower Pasta

Tomorrow I will be gone on vacation on a vegan little cruise ship down in Croatia for one week. I'm really exited as I share a room with a unknown person. I will post more after the vacation - telling you what I ate and how it was. 

 Ingredible how much stress and preparation vacation needs. Packing the luggage, deciding what kind of dresses and t-shirt you want to pack -  etc. Beside, making sure showing that all perishable food are either eaten or given away. 

Though I thought that I really good prepared - there were more to do than I thought. And I my flight is at 6 a.m - which means getting up very early.. uah. But I knew I will be to exited for really sleeping. 

Today in the morning I brought my cats to their holiday (a cathotel). I don't like leaving my cats somewhere else, as I knew they are very scary and being without them - I felt so alone at home without the miau, cuddle and so on. 

Anyway, after I've done what I had to do, it was already dinner time. Though my stomach is quite tens, I had wanted to eat something but eating relaxed would feel much better........

I kept it simple of course, with the left vegetable I had in the refrigerator. 

If you're not having cauliflower at home -  us another vegetable - guess the taste will be similar. Now enjoy your dinner. 

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Cauliflower Pasta 

30 min 
2 People

Ingredients: 
400 g cauliflower 
salt 
4 spring onions 
200 g  rigatoni (noodles)

1 clove of garlic 
15 g basil leaves 
10 g pine nuts
120 ml olive oil 
Grated zest and 2 tablespoons juice from 1 lemon

Preparation:
From the cauliflower break florets. In a pot boil water, add salt. Then cook cauliflower for 5 minutes, drain, rinse with cold water and drain. 
Clean and cut 4 spring onions into 1 cm thick rings. 

In a frying pan without fat roast the chopped hazelnuts and then let cool. 

In plenty salted water cook 200 g rigatoni according to the package directions.

Meanwhile peel and press 1 clove of garlic. Coarsly shop basil leaves and puree with the pine nuts, garlic and 100 ml olive oil.  Season to taste with salt. 

Cut the caulifower florets into thick slices and in a large pan with 20 ml oil fry until golden brown about 5 minutes. Add the Spring onions and fry 1 more minute. 
Wisk under the grated zest and 2 tablespoons lemonjuice, season with salt. 

Serve the paste with the vegetable and top with the pesto.  

Zucchini Noodles with vegan Pesto

Last week my father turned 70 and on this special occasion my parents invited us (myself, sister and brother) to a wellness-weekend across the border in Germany. 

We were all pretty exited - my first time in a four-star-wellness-hotel! Defently not bad!

On Saturday we left all together around lunchtime and after an hour and 45 min we arrived at the hotel. After checking and entering the rooms we met in the Lounge for small snack and drink. (The snack they ordered...... - just meat and cheese -  no comment). It didn't bother for me as I had my sandwich with me and ate it right after entering my room. Afterward each of us enjoyed the wellness till dinner.

As all the special personal massages were overbooked we only enjoyed what ever one of us wanted. 
First I went into the Bio-Sauna - relaxing, drinking water and then to the steam-bath. 

It did so good. I really relaxed. Unfortunatly there were no time left to use the herbal chamber,.. :(

The dinner was exellent and I got a Vegan Meal (Falafel with raw marinated spinach topped with crunchy honey-nuts and hemp-seed-joghurt) 

I really went back to work relaxed. I really needed such a kind of weekend!

For my Monday's lunchbox I prepared a light and fresh dish to extend the wellness-feeling ;)

Simple, easy and so good with selfdried cherry tomatoes!

Enjoy! And hopefully you feel "wellnessed" after this dish.....

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Zucchini Noodles with vegan Pesto

Zucchini Noodles @ vegivegan

Serves 2

 Ingredients:
4- 5 medium zucchinis
2 cups cherry tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons green pesto
2 tablespoons pine nuts (or any other nuts you prefer, or leave them away)
salt and pepper 

Direction: 
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees

Clean and halve the cherry tomatoes and toss in a some oil until everything is well coated. Sprinkle with salt and spread on a baking sheet, seed side up. 

Roast tomatoes for 90 minutes (alternative already dried tomatoes)

With the julienne peeler make the zucchini noodles and give into bowl. Combine noodles with two tablespoons of pesto (more to your preference) and mix well.

To serve: 
divide noodles into two bowls, top with cherry tomatoes, sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.

Enjoy this healthy dish and feel good ;)

Pesto-Broccoli-Salad

First Advent: Yesterdayafternoon I made a quick Advent wreath, I know not really special or even great, but I had no time preparing one and therefore mine's just a plate with some stars, glammer and candles. If I would have used greens the cats probably would play with it - and that's not what I wanted.

As most sundays I do a lot of work in the kitchen. Cooking, preparing dips, spread, sauce and so on. This day I first prepared my lunch: a healthy one. As I already precooked Pasta on hand and some vegetables to be done and my vegan pesto.

Damm this salad was good. It's been a while since I ate Pesto....and I realized that I really missed the taste of herbs and so on.

The good thing about this dish? It could be eaten hot and cold and at the low temperature I ate it of couse hot ;)

Enjoy this dish as well!

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Pesto-Broccoli-Salad

 

Serves: 8 

 

Ingredients:

2 cups penne pasta, uncooked

6 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

½ cup sliced black olives, drained

½ cup red onion, chopped

1 cup vegan pesto sauce

Pesto-Sauce:

2 cups, washed, loosely packed stemmed fresh herbs- basil, cilantro, parsley

1/2 cup shelled pecans , walnuts or pine nuts (I used pine nuts)

1-2 cloves fresh garlic

1/4 to 1/2 cup good tasting extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Sea salt, to taste

 

Direction: Pesto

Combine the fresh herbs, nuts, and garlic in a food processor and process the mixture until it turns into a coarse meal.

Slowly add extra virgin olive oil in a steady drizzle as you pulse the processor on and off. Process until it becomes a smooth, light paste. Add enough olive oil to keep it moist and spreadable.

Season with sea salt, to taste.

Cover and store chilled for at least an hour to saturate the flavors. I like to pour a thin layer of extra virgin olive oil over the top to help keep it bright green.

Makes roughly a rounded cup.

Direction: Broccoli, Pasta

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and reserve the water to blanch the broccoli. Place the drained pasta in a large bowl and set aside.

 

Bring the pasta water back to a boil, then add the broccoli. Boil broccoli for 2 minutes, then place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the broccoli and add to the pasta.

 

Add the remaining ingredients to the pasta and broccoli and gently fold to combine the ingredients.

 

Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours prior to serving so that the flavors can combine.

 

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Pumpkin-Pesto / Dip / Spread

Today was a day with 3 stop overs. First stop was at the dentist - everything ok. Second stop was at the supermarket where I buyed a Hokkaido-Pumpkin and stuff I needed for my cooking-adventure. And of course the third stop ended up in the kitchen

As I love vegetable dip/spread/pesto's I wanted to make one out of Pumpkin. I was so exausted about starting with it and of course about the result. I have to say ahead - it is delicious!!!!!!!
I hardly couldn't stop myself from digging in my fingers.

The pesto isn't oily - which I like more and it's creamy and therefore usuable for many kind of variation, such as a dip, spread or even as a sauce for your next pastadish.

Well, let's see how long it will last till I ate everything. Probably not very long. It won't be the last time I've done it!

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Pumpkin-Pesto / Dip / Spread

 

 



 makes about 2 big and 3 small glasses

 

Ingredients:

1 Pumpkin (in my case Hokkaido about 1300kg)

2 knob garlic, chopped

1 onion, chopped

100 ml water

2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

2 Tbsp. sunflower seeds (or pine seeds)

6-8 dried tomatoes (I used the ones in oil)

50 ml olive oil

3 Tbsp. chopped chives or parsely

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. fresh grounded pepper

 

Direction:

Halve the pumpkin and pull the core away, then cut into pieces. Preheat a pan and add one Tbsp. oil, add the onion and garlic and shortly roast. Then add the chopped Pumpking, stirr and shortly roast then add the water and cook at middle heat till soft. When done put into a bowl and set outside or in the refrigerator to let cool down.

 

Meanwhile chopp the tomatoes and together with the left ingredients combine in a blender. Process well through then add (when cooled down) the pumpkin and blend all together. Season with more salt or pepper if needed.

 

Put the pesto / dip / spread in well-sealing glasses and keep refrigerated. It will be good for about 2 weeks.

 

Tastes great on bread , Pasta or as a dip!

 

 

(of course I first had to neatly clean the bowl with my finger before cleaning..)

Snowman time

Wow, it's been snowing the hole afternoon. So beautiful, seems like the world stands still, all so calm and the watch the snow falling so great.
As I came home I was all over white and a little wet, but it's a different being wet from rain or from snow.

The hole afternoon I stayed inside at my "maybe new job". I had a look inside to their work and worked also a little bit, but mostly just watched and asked.
It would be a different kind of work - what I mean, a different direction, still medicine but a child doctor is not the same as internal doctor or general doctor.

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 Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

 * Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

* Cook Time: 1 hour

* Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp soy butter*
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp ginger root, minced
• 1 leek, white parts, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 small to medium butternut squash, peeled, cubed
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled, cubed
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp all spice
• 1/8 tsp ground clove
• 1/8 tsp ground marjoram
• 1/8 tsp ground fennel
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup white wine*
• 1 cup non-dairy milk*
• vegan sour cream, to top, to taste*

* Recipe:

1. In a large pot, melt the soy butter and add the onions. Cook until translucent.
2. Next, add the garlic, ginger, and leeks. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes.
3. Add the carrot, butternut squash, potatoes, bay leaves, and vegetable broth. Cook for about 30 minutes or until the root vegetables are soft.
4. Add the spices, wine, and milk. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. In batches, puree the soup. Enjoy with a dollop of vegan sour cream.

In the picture, it's not quite as orange-ish as it should have been because I only used one butternut squash, therefore I upped it to two. I also cut the cayenne in this because I found it a bit too spicy for me. The bread in the picture is homemade whole wheat rolls made.

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 Baked Squash and Pesto Gratin

 Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  1 hour

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 large yellow summer squash (or several small summer squash)
• 2 medium tomatoes
• ⅓ cup basil pesto
• 1 cup gruyere, shredded
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Grease the bottom and sides of a baking dish with pesto.
3. Slice the squash and tomatoes into ¼ inch rounds.
4. Add tomatoes and squash to baking dish in a single layer, slightly overlapping.
5. Brush the tops of the vegetables with pesto. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. Top with shredded gruyere.
7. Bake for 45 minutes or until the juices are bubbling and the cheese has started to brown. Broil for a couple of minutes if you want the cheese crispier.

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