Garlic Scapes = Spring!

I finally accepted spring had arrived today, when I stopped by one of my favorite farm stands and they had garlic scapes!!

Let me introduce you to garlic scapes!! They are basically thin, young, curling, tender, green garlic shoots. They have a much milder 'greener' flavor than regular heads of garlic and show up every spring in Western Washington farmer's markets and road-side-stands.

If left unattended, the scape will grow larger and harden into the familiar opaque white/beige color of garlic peel. Keeping the shoot attached will also curtail further growth of the bulb. So, in an effort to allow the garlic to keep growing, the farmer cuts the 'scapes' or shoots - If you haven't tried them, you MUST!

Try dicing it into scrambled tofu (OR eggs if that's your thing!), adding to stir-fried veggies or as a garnish for rice or a creamy potato soup. My absolute favorite way to use garlic scapes though, is in pesto. The color is bright and green and the garlic flavor is fresh and light, not the strong, robust date-killing aroma that we all associate with garlic. (Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE garlic in any shape or form or strength, but the mildness of garlic scapes is a refreshing change from the "regular" garlic that invades my kitchen!).

Here's my favorite, (and crazy-super-easy) scape pesto recipe:

Bright-Green Garlic Scape Pesto

1/2 cup roasted, shelled sunflower seeds (or pistachios are good here too, lightly salted is fine)
1/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup crumbled firm tofu
1/4 cup good extra virgin olive oil (you may need more)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 bunch garlic scapes (about 4 large)
1 small bunch of arugula, washed and dried (about 1 packed cup baby arugula leaves)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Put sunflower seeds and cashews in food processor and whiz until very fine. Add tofu, lemon juice and olive oil and blend until smooth. This may take a while.

Add garlic scapes, arugula and nutritional yeast and whiz until finely blended - it doesn't have to be a solid paste, but can be "chunkier" or grainy as you prefer... Add salt or pepper to taste if desired.

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I tossed this pesto with fresh asparagus, peas and pasta for a TOTALLY yummy, locally grown, spring supper. Yum. Have a GREAT weekend!

Sage and Pumpkin-Seed Pesto (again).

If you're thinking this recipe sounds familiar, it just might be. I came up with it exactly a year ago for some Pumpkin-themed cooking contest which I hate to admit, I don't even remember the outcome of!

Must not have been that big a deal. The contest anyway. The pesto sauce, however, has been a huge hit in our household ever since.

I was reminded of it when looking in my freezer at all the fresh basil pesto I'd frozen over the summer. I was craving pesto, but didn't really want to break into my freezer "stash" yet...

Since the sage in my herb garden grows pretty much year-round, (AND I had pumpkin seeds in the freezer) I was able to make this fresh tonight. YUM!

Pumpkin seeds are awesomely good for you, by the way; a quarter cup of raw seeds has 46.1% of the daily value for magnesium, 28.7% of the DV for iron, 52.0% of the DV for manganese, 24.0% of the DV for copper, 16.9% of the DV for protein, and 17.1% of the DV for zinc.

Sage Pumpkin-Seed Pesto recipe here.

The only things I did differently (you knew I would) were: I served it over pasta (obviously) instead of polenta, I did not blend it so smooth, and I mixed in some cracked black pepper and a couple tablespoons of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese to make it a creamier and lighter sauce...

PERFECT for fall. Enjoy.

Vegan Munchies!!

Vegans don't eat tofu and sprouts all the time. (OK, you know I just had to say that).

Seriously, these last couple days we've been busy with back-to-school shopping and appointments and as a result, have had rather unstructured mealtimes.
So, we've done a lot of shameless snacking. But hey - I figure snacking is worth blogging about too.

First up, we have Indian spiced, crunchy roasted chickpeas. You know they're the same as garbanzos, right?

(Yes, there are 565767 versions of these in every veggie cookbook and blog out there, I have no idea where I got the original recipe, but it's morphed so much from the original I think it's fine to post...).

Crunchy-Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

-- 2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained well and blotted dry (Note: I have always cooked my own chickpeas/garbanzos from dry beans, so I have no idea how this would work with canned, but I assume very much the same..)
-- 2 tsp. olive oil
-- 1/2 tsp. Indian Black Salt (which adds a rich smoky, sulphuric Indian taste, or just use regular salt if that's all you have...)
-- 1/2 tsp. cumin
-- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
-- 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
-- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
-- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less if you don't like things too spicy)
*Pretty much, just use 2 - 3 teaspoons of whatever spices you like. These just happen to be my favorites.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Toss the chickpeas with olive oil in a bowl, until coated. Then sprinkle on seasonings and spread chickpeas on a nonstick bakingsheet.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and crisp, stirring several times.

And next we have a summer-garden inspired Italian twist on a Mexican-ish snack. Pesto may sound totally bizarre in a tortilla but it's a huge favorite in this house. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it.

Pesto Quesadillas

-- 3 Tbsp. your favorite pesto (here's my Pesto Recipe)
-- 1 smallish portbella mushroom, sliced thin (optional)
OR 1 garden-ripe tomato, sliced very thin
-- 6 large flour tortillas
-- 6 slices vegan cheese, your choice (I used Galaxy vegan Rice Slices 'cause they melt pretty well)

Spread pesto thinly on 3 tortillas - aprox 1 Tbsp. each.
If using mushrooms, sautee portabella slices briefly over high heat in a lightly greased skillet until lightly cooked. Lay mushroom (or tomato) slices on top of pesto.

Tear or cut cheese slices into strips and distribute over mushrooms/tomatoes. Place additional tortillas on top of the three "filled" ones.

Wipe skillet out after browning mushrooms. Heat to medium-high. Carefully (carefully!!) place filled tortilla in pan and cook several minutes until browning. (Or do these in a "George Forman" type grill, I don't have one but friends do and they are GREAT that way!!)

Turn and cook on the other side until cheese is melty and tortilla is crispy and browned, lowering heat if necessary. Repeat with other two tortillas.

Cut into wedges and serve with whatever dipping sauce. We opted for marinara tonight.

Pumpkin Polenta with Sage-Pumpkin-Seed Pesto

It's fall, it's chilly, I'm in a "Pumpkin-y" sort of mood... So I dragged out some ingredients that sounded good and modified a very UNvegan recipe or two for these... Pumpkin Polenta and Sage-Pumpkin-Seed Pesto.

You can use canned plain pumpkin here if you want, or if you want to use fresh: Bake or microwave a small pumpkin (the sugar-pie type, not the big jack-o-lantern type - or any dense winter squash will work) until soft.

Scoop out squash and mash or puree. Measure out 1/2 cup squash for this recipe:

Crispy Pumpkin Polenta Triangles

1/2 cup squash or pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cups water

2 tablespoons soymilk

1 tablespoon margarine

1/2 tablespoon agave or maple syrup

Salt

1/2 cup polenta cornmeal (or coarse ground cornmeal)

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for frying

In a medium saucepan, combine the pumpkin with the water and bring to a boil. Add the soymilk, margarine, agave and a generous pinch of salt.

Add the polenta cornmeal in a thin stream, whisking constantly. Cook over low-ish heat, stirring until thickened and cornmeal is cooked - about 20 minutes.

Scrape the polenta into a loaf pan and refrigerate until firm. When firm and chilled, run a knife around the sides of the pan and unmold the polenta. Slice into 1 1/2 -inch squares/rectangles, and then crosswise into triangles;

Fry the triangles in batches, turning once, until deep golden and crisp, about 2 - 5 minutes per side.

Transfer to paper towels or brown paper bag to absorb excess oil and drain.

Make Pumpkin-Seed Sage Pesto:

Pumpkin-Seed and Sage Pesto

3/4 cup lightly packed fresh sage leaves (from 2 large bunches)

3/4 cup raw, hulled pumpkin seeds (about 4 ounces)

1/4 cup (packed) fresh parsley leaves

1 - 3 garlic cloves

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

4 Tbsp raw cashew pieces

squeeze fresh lemon juice

Put cashews in bowl of food processor and blend into a fine powder.

Using on/off turns, blend sage leaves, pumpkin seeds, parsley, and garlic in processor until mixture is finely chopped.

With machine running, add 3/4 cup oil and squeeze of lemon juice and blend until thick paste forms.

Transfer to small bowl; season with salt and pepper. Warm for a few moments in a saucepan, if too thick, add several Tbsp. soymilk.

Serve crispy hot polenta triangles with pesto sauce.

As you can see, I had a hard time getting a picture, my kids kept eating the polenta before I had enough to photograph!

A visit to the Dog Park; And Dinner with friends!

We got invited to bring our new dog, Wilson, to the off-leash Dog Park with friends this afternoon. Despite the fact that I am not totally crazy about boisterous groups of barking, shaggy, slobbery dogs - especially large dogs... I admit, it sorta sounded like fun!

The place is fairly new, hey - I didn't even know it existed. Even though our back yard is over 1/3 of an acre, Wilson could use more space to run on occasion. (Like when chasing his precious tennis balls!)

I'd been wishing there was an off-leash park in the area to take him - my friend Froggy takes his dogs in Albuquerque all the time, I was always jealous we didn't have any place similar. But now it seems we do. Yay!

The kids were really excited and I was interested to see how our new little guy got along with other dogs. I know how much he loves to run, so this was a great (and safe) opportunity for him to stretch his legs too!

Well, of course - he LOVED it! We all loved it! And I enjoyed having some time to visit with friends while the kids played with the dogs...

Wilson would take his tennis ball and drop it in front of any likely suspect - then bark and dance for them to throw it. Fortunately these people were all more "doggy polite" than I am, and didn't mind scooping up a slimy, slobbered on tennis ball and hurling their shoulders out of joint throwing the thing far, far down the park . Then half the dogs in the park would go galloping after the ball.

This went on for over an hour - probably longer if we'd stayed! He out-ran every (much larger!) dog in the place to get to "his" prize. What a speedy little guy!

It was about supper time when we got ready to head home - everyone was muttering about being tired and hungry, and wondering what they should make for supper and kids were whining for fast food....

Spontaneously I said "Just bring everyone over to our place - I'll make spaghetti!" Well, 'our place' is 12 miles out of the way, I didn't expect any of them to really take me seriously, but they all shrugged and said "OK, that sounds good!" and so I made supper for a crowd. (Vegan too of course, and no one noticed, complained or said a word!)

Of course, I'd forgotten my house was utter chaos. (We're leaving for a week in Victoria, BC on Monday).

No matter. Dinner took less than 30 min. I cooked some whole-wheat spaghetti, heated some homemade spaghetti sauce I had leftover from last week, made a salad and whipped up some pesto with a bunch of basil and garlic.

I put some of the pesto on split french-bread rolls and toasted it in the oven, then topped it with FYH Vegan Mozzerella and broiled it for a moment until toasty. (That's what the strange greenish-brown lumps are, in the silver mixing bowl! My, aren't we fancy today!)

No fancy serving dishes, no good china, I just plopped pans on the table pulled out the paper plates and the wine-in-a-box (OK, and soda for the kids!).

But even without 'proper' serving utinsels and surrounded by my messy, messy house, dinner was a hit. The kids couldn't stop snorting down the toasted pesto-garlic "cheese" rolls, we had to laugh.

Long after dinner was over and we were stuffed beyond any reasonable limits, the adults sat around the table and told stories and finished off the wine and reminisced. It felt good and it made me happy to be surrounded by friends and laughter. We haven't had an impromptu dinner with friends over in ages. Definitely need to get back in the habit.

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Here's my basic all-purpose garlicky pesto. It's pretty rich stuff, you won't need a lot. But it freezes wonderfully and I go ahead and make a huge batch every time my basil garden is over-producing!

Use tofu instead of the Earth Balance if you're just using it on pasta and/or want less calories.
It *might* leave little telltale white specks if you use it on toasted rolls/bread, which can be problamatic, depending on your guests and how tofu-phobic they are.

Well, tonight I didn't have any tofu anyway, but I'm not sure it would have mattered...no one inspected things too closely. They were hungry. It was inHALED on the pasta and evidently quite popular toasted on the bread because that disappeared too!

Vegan Pesto

2 - 3 cups loosely packed basil leaves
3 - 5 cloves garlic (or more if you like it garlicky!)
1/4 cup Earth Balance or other vegan "butter" spread
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Blend cashews with olive oil until they're completely smooth in food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend until it's as smooth as you like it. You may need to add a bit more olive oil to make it blend easily.

Put a Tablespoon or two on hot pasta and stir in. Mmmm..

Or - spread thinly on bread or rolls and put under broiler until toasted - add some sprinkles of vegan cheese and broil just a second longer until cheese "melts". (I know, melting vegan cheese can be tricky - it will sorta melt, under the broiler, just watch it closely...).


Have A Great Weekend!