Celebrity Pesto Quinoa Salad

You know how sometimes you pull out all the stops when you make a dish? Well, that happened to me yesterday because I knew I was serving Dr. William Sears and his wife Martha at a brunch. If you don’t know who Dr. Bill is, you either do not have kids under the age of 25 or you have been living under a rock. Dr. Bill literally wrote the book on babies. He called it, wait for it, "The Baby Book" and it has a photo of babies on the cover. He and Martha have written somewhere around 50 books, on kids and health, that have been translated into several languages.

1 cup quinoa

1.5 C water

4 large swiss chard leaves, cut into ribbons

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon ground pepper

1/8 C freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 C chopped arugula

1/2 C fresh basil leaves, chopped (a BIG handful, then you chop them)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

16 or so baby carrots, cut into coins (or chop up 2 large carrots)

1 C chopped red onion

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

½ C Dreamy Pesto Sauce

Knowing that royalty might eat my salad I took a little extra time to make my quinoa fabulous. First, I soaked my quinoa in filtered water for about 15 minutes while I harvested chard, basil, arugula, and bell pepper from my Garden. HighOnHealth.org has a great article on soaking quinoa. And, then went to town chopping and chiffonading (that should be a verb) my veggies and fruit. Yes, bell peppers are technically fruit because the seeds are INSIDE. Strawberries are the only fruit with the seeds on the outside. We’ll save that debate for another day.

Probably the biggest secret is the massaging of the chard to break its fibers down while I prepped the other veggies. And, you’ll want to make this salad a day ahead of time to let the flavors marry. In the morning you can say, “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Certainly because you‘re gonna a party when you eat the salad.

I like al dente, so I use 1.5 cups water to cook the quinoa. If you want more flavor, use veggie broth or “No Chicken Broth” by Imagine. Oooh! How about wine? Use a white or you will have an odd color grain. Let the quinoa cool by fluffing it with a fork or large spoon many times until you do not see steam rising any more.

Mix the cooled quinoa with all of the ingredients. The salad will take on a light green hue because of the pesto sauce.

Dreamy Pesto Sauce

     I’m embarrassed at how easy this pesto sauce is to make, in fact how easy pretty much ALL pesto sauces are to prepare. Pesto is just the Italian word for “pounded” but it sounds so much more elegant. Something to do with grinding the ingredients with a mortar and pestle. Fortunately for you, we have electronic devices to make that whole process go at light speed. 

4 C fresh TG basil leaves

4 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

¼ C freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 C shelled walnut pieces

1.5 C grapeseed oil

¼ C nutritional yeast flakes

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

then,

5 pitted black olives and a little bit of the brine (1 teaspoon?)

        Take the bushels of basil leaves from your over-productive plants (that's a US quarter for scale) from your Garden and shake off any spiders that may have come along for a ride.  I always seem to bring friends in from the Garden. Then they freak out as I have completely disrupted their fine day outside, ripped their home apart, and transported them to a harsh environment. I feel a country song in the making.

         Layer your ingredients (except for the olives) in the exact same order in your high speed blender.  Basil first and pepper last. You get it. Secure the lid (double check or your walls will have a green splatter effect other people pay a year’s salary to achieve). Push the button for Sauces/Dips.

         You probably questioned your high speed blender's ability to suck the leaves from the top. But, magic! You now see a light green goop inside the blender pitcher. You really could just stop there and have pesto. You’d still see tiny bits of green and light brown together. But, take this one step further.

         Add the olives and brine. Put your cover on the pitcher. Push the Sauces/Dips button, again. Now your sauce is dreamy – no bits visible. The texture completely changed.

Be sure to refrigerate this sauce in the best container that matches its volume. You don’t want the oxygen in the gap between the top of the sauce to the bottom of the lid to be mixing with the sauce. Your forest green will transform quickly to a fatigues green. I never could have served in the army because of their color choices. That, and I am wimpy and scared of dying. I salute all who serve their country and leave the comforts of their home to bring peace to others.

         This sauce is suitable for mixing with hot noodles, spreading on your sandwich, mixing with your salad, or drinking. Wait, not drinking. I meant to type, “drizzling on a roasted portabello.” Yeah, that’s what I meant to type.

Best Box Pancakes Ever!

On a whim I bought a box of Aunt Jemima's pancake mix - not the just add water kind. The one where you actually add oil, milk, and eggs. I usually shy away from prepackaged stuff, but my kids were especially cute and endearing that day.
But I tweaked it because I can't follow a recipe verbatim. The first time I made it, I subbed Basil infused olive oil for the oil, Vanilla Silk for the milk, and used regular eggs.

Today, I subbed Lime infused olive oil, Vanilla Silk, and EnerG egg replacer.
Oh my gosh. No syrup required.
Then follow the rest of the instructions on the box.
Let me know when you make it!

White "Minestrone" with Mushrooms

Serves 12 first course or 6 main course
1/2 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 swirl of olive oil (1 1/2 teaspoons)
sea salt
1 bag Bella mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, sliced
2 cartons (64 oz.) of Imagine 'No-Chicken Broth'
1 zucchini, chopped
1/2 yellow squash, chopped
25 oz. garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup couscous
3 cups spinach, chopped

Saute: onion and garlic in olive oil in a pan over medium heat for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with sea salt to sweat the onion and garlic and make them brown faster.

Add mushrooms and saute for 5 more minutes.
Set aside till later. [Or, do the steps above and below simultaneously in two different pots - get wild!]

Boil carrots in 'No-Chicken Broth' in a large pot over medium heat for 5 minutes or until carrots are partially cooked. [Like they are thinking about being tender. Always start with your hard veggies first. They take the longest to cook.] Reduce heat to medium.
Add zucchini, yellow squash, and beans. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
Turn off heat. Add couscous and the onion/mushroom mixture and cover for 5 minutes.
Add spinach and stir. Serve immediately or the couscous with thicken your soup.
The couscous turns your soup into gelatinous goo overnight. Unless you are trying to make what looks like an aspic.

Balsamic Orange dressing

At a cooking demo at my friend's home, I whipped up this tasty dressing. Just five ingredients.
Balsamic Orange Dressing - makes 1/2 cup
4 oz. olive oil
2 oz. balsamic vinegar
2 oz. fresh orange juice (high pulp)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 squirt yellow mustard (for 2 seconds)

Whisk all together and toss with your favorite greens, bright veggies and fruit. I like to top with toasted coconut and nuts.