I tried to make a pesto the other night. This is my effort

1 package pasta
3/4 pound fresh asparagus
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 cup, packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup walnuts
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
salt and pepper

For the Salad
1 large bundle rainbow chard
2 baby bok choy
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar


To make the pesto, I blended the basil, walnuts, olive oil, and garlic until it was smooth. Or as smooth as I could get it. I cooked the pasta in salty water. When the pasta had about 6 minutes left to cook, I tossed the mushrooms into the water. When it had about 4 minutes left, I tossed in the asparagus to cook all in the same pot. I then strained this, put it back in the pot and mixed in the yeast. I added the pesto and some salt and pepper to taste.

For the salad, I sauteed the garlic in the olive oil. Then I tossed in the chard and bok choy after giving it a rough chop. As this began to cook down and wilt, I added the vinegar and put a top on the large frying pan it was cooking in to help it steam down.

I also made corn with some butter and salt on the gas stove. This whole meal was excellent. No Parmesan needed.

I made this the other night for dinner. The burrito was a variation on my other burritos but didn't turn out well so I'm not going to post that. The side, however, turned out much better. It was mostly easy to make, except for the mango which was a bitch to peel and cut into strips.

2 large ripe mangos
1 large cucumber
1 large jicama
2 limes, juiced
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp chilie powder
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

I started by peeling the cucumber and jicama and cutting them into 2 inch long, 1/2 inch wide strips. After eating some, I might try smaller strips next time. With the mango, I peeled the skin with a sharp knife. Then cut the strips into the slippery bastards, and tried to remove as much of the meat as I could get off. I nearly chopped a few fingers off when it slipped. If anyone else has a better technique for slicing and dicing mango, please let me know.
After getting that cut up, I added the salt chilie powder and cilantro and tossed with my hands. I've had it fresh and a day later and either way it is good. Very sweet, crisp, and spicy with the chili powder. It makes a perfect accompaniment to spicy beans and rice in the burrito. Some of the juice soaked into the burrito I had today and it was quite good. I may consider putting the salad IN the burrito for tomorrows dinner.

I told Stew a couple days ago that I'd get a vegan safe pizza dough recipe up here, so here we go. This has a few more ingredients than a strictly traditional DOC compliant dough, but it's much easier to handle.

5 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
2 teaspoons table salt OR 3 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
~1 3/4 cups room temperature water


1. Stir together all the ingredients in a large metal bowl.

2. Repeatedly dip one of your hands or the spoon into room-temperature water, working the dough into a coarse ball like you were using a dough hook while rotating the bowl with your other hand. As all the flour is incorporated the dough will begin to strengthen. This should take about 4 minutes.

3. Cover the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes and then resume mixing for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the dough is slightly sticky, soft, and supple. If it's too soft and sticky to hold it's shape mix in more flour one tablespoon at a time. If it's too stiff or dry mix in more water.

4. Immediately divide the dough into 4 (or whatever) equal pieces. Round each piece into a ball, brush it with olive oil to coat, and place inside it's own container. I use tupperware for this.

5. Let the balls rest at room temperature for 15 minutes, then put them in the refrigerator overnight. You can also freeze them at this point for up to 3 months.

6. Take them out of the fridge ~2 hours before you plan to use them so they can return to room temperature, then use them to make pizzas as you normally would.

This is very similar to a greek salad I did a little while back, but different enough and tasty enough to post again

2 1/2 cups Bistro Wild Rice Blend
1 cucumber, shredded
1 can black olives
1 can garbanzo beans
4 oz feta cheese
2 chicken breasts
1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped dill
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 Tbsp dried oregano
salt and pepper

For the side I roasted:
1 yam
and 1 ear corn
with salt and butter and some seasonings

To cook the rice, I started boiling about 3 cups water along with the excess cucumber juice, some of the olive water, and the bouillon cube. Once it was going, I poured in the rice, the cucumber, the olives, and the rinsed garbanzo beans. While this was cooking for about 35 minutes, I started the chicken. I seasoned it heavily with salt, pepper, and oregano and cooked each breast on a cast iron pan with oil until each side was brown and crispy.
While all of this was going down, I had the oven up to 45o, where I put the diced up yam and ear of corn until they cooked up right.
When the chicken rested, and the rice was almost done, I chopped up the chicken, and added it to the rice along with the herbs, feta, and the juice of the lemon. I mixed this all around, letting the heat wilt the herbs and the feta to melt and mix all in.

Graham cracker cupcakes with a chocolate ganache filling and a 7-minute frosting. The frosting is kind of like a quick spreadable marshmallow.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk

1. Mix the flour, crumbs, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. Beat in the butter a couple tablespoons at a time.
3. Beat in sugar until combined.
4. Beat in eggs.
5. Add vanilla and milk and mix until just barely combined.
6. Pour into cupcake pan, filling cups a little over half full.
7. Bake at 400º for around 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

At this point, I used a paring knife to cut little cones out of the top of each one, then spooned in some ganache, replaced the cones, and heaped on some of the frosting. Right at the end I decided to sprinkle on some graham cracker crumbs I had left over.

Anda curry is a tomato curry with eggs poached directly in it near the end.


1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons coriander seed, ground
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh "coriander leaves" (I wound up subbing in some parsley because I had a brain fart and forgot that this is cilantro. Learn from my mistakes, children.)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
6-8 large eggs

1. Heat the oil in a sauce pan at medium-high heat.
2. Add the garlic and onion and fry until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the coriander, cumin, and turmeric and cook for another minute.
4. Add the cayenne, tomatoes, and salt and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Lower the heat and stir in the "coriander" and garam masala (not too much or the next step will take too long like it did for me).
6. Gently break the eggs into the curry without breaking the yolks. Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook for around 3-4 minutes, or until the eggs are where you want them. Serve hot.

I am posting another pulled pork dinner I made even though the pork portion isn't too different than other times I've done this. The big thing I want to save here is the vinegar coleslaw. It was cheap, easy and really good. But first the pork variation that I pulled from my friend Ross.

So I seasoned the pork as normal, except in the crockpot I left out the wet ingredients like soy sauce and vinegar and let it sit instead on a bed of a half of an onion, chopped. I let it cook up for 8-10 hours on high until it was all tender. By the time it was done, many of the juices had seeped out. I pulled the pork from the liquid, put it in a hot skillet, pulled it, and let it get crispy in a few bits. I then used the remaining sauce from the crockpot to deglaze the pan along with some cider vinegar (apple juice would work well, too). Most of the liquid reduced down and left the mess very sticky and perfectly shredded.

Now to the coleslaw

1/2 head small purple cabbage

1/2 onion

4 whole carrots

1 head bok choy

1 cup apple cider vinegar

5 Tbls white sugar

1 Tbls black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp rosemary

I started off shredding the cabbage, carrots and boy chow into thin strips, and sliced up the onion to match the size of the other vegetables. I put it all in tupperware, and added the rest of the ingredients. The seasonings there may or may not have made much of a difference. I was mostly just aiming for an approximate flavor profile as the pork. Any spices you want could probably work. I put the top on the tupperware, gave it a good shake, and then let it sit in the refrigerator for about 4 hours, giving it a shake every hour or so to keep it coated. Then it was ready to serve.

Knowing veggies, you might want to adjust the amount of sugar and salt and vinegar depending on how much you get from the veggies. Also, after I let it sit overnight, the coleslaw was even better. Still really crisp and sweet and tangy. Good stuff.