Category: Staple Ingredient

Walnut-Pecan Pesto

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Ingredients:

  • Heaping ¼ cup walnuts
  • Heaping ¼ pecans
  • 1 cup fresh basil (loosely packed)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
  • The juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp Himalayan salt
  • ½ cup Balsamic Dressing (preferably homemade: garlic, EVOO, balsamic, lemon juice, salt & pepper)

Process:

  1. In a food processor pulse the walnuts and pecans until they are finely crumbed
  2. Finely chop basil and then add to food processor.
  3. Add all of the other ingredients and blend. 
  4. That’s it! 

Ultimate Cashew Cream Sauce

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Ingredients:
  • 1 cup cashews
  • 2.5 cups water
  • 9 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp tamari
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp arrowroot powder/tapioca starch
Method
  1. Soak cashews overnight or boil them until soft.
  2. Strain and rinse cashews. Add cashews to a high-speed blender with water, nutritional yeast, tamari, onion powder and garlic powder. Blend until smooth.
  3. Taste the mixture – add salt and pepper to taste along with any other ingredients. Add more nutritional yeast for cheesiness, and more garlic or onion powder for flavour. Onion gives a nice sweet flavour without getting too bitter (which can sometimes happen with too much garlic). Tamari gives a nice salty savoury flavour.
  4. Once you get your desired flavour, then add the arrowroot/tapioca starch and blend once more. The reason you add it after is because the starch tastes chalky before it is heated and will make it hard to get the seasoning right.
  5. Pour the sauce into a saucepan and heat over medium-high heat and stir constantly. Once the mixture starts to thicken and bubble, turn the temperature down to medium-low and cook for a few more minutes to fully activate the starch and thicken up. Taste the mixture – if it tastes starchy at all you haven’t cooked it long enough.
  6. Depending on what kind of thickness you want you can easily add more water and stretch out the sauce a bit further (which I usually do).
  7. Again, keep tasting the sauce and season it more if needed. Sometimes the starch absorbs some of the flavour and needs a bit more salt or pepper.
  8. Enjoy right away and store the rest in a glass jar to reheat for another meal later.

That’s it! This sauce is a good base and is very versatile for a number of different dips and sauces. I’ve used this recipe to make Spinach & Artichoke Sauce/Pasta, Vegan Queso, Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta, Creamy Jalapeño dip/pasta. So good!!

 

Roasted Red Peppers & Garlic

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Ingredients:

  • Red peppers (about 3-4 – enough to fill a baking tray)
  • 1-2 heads of garlic
  • EVOO (a few spoonfuls)
  • Salt & pepper
  • Splash of balsamic vinegar
  • Optional: Other seasonings (I usually use chipotle)
Method
  1. Heat oven to 430 degrees.
  2. Cut peppers into halves or quarters.
  3. Cut the top of garlic head off and wrap in aluminum foil.  Line pan with aluminum foil and parchment paper.
  4. Mix extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), salt, pepper, tiny bit of balsamic vinegar and seasoning of your choice (I used Chipotle and Garlic Lovers Flavor God seasoning).
  5. Baste both sides of peppers, tomatoes and garlic.
  6. Cook for 20 mins, flip, baste and check every 15 minutes until peppers start to blacken on the edges.
  7. Turn off oven and crack the door for another 10 mins.  Take out and cool.  Save oil and charred bits they are great to add to salad dressing or hummus.

Caramelized Onions

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Caramelized onions are a staple in almost every meal I make. They are a great way to start off tasty sauces, add to homemade hummus, add to veggie tacos/burgers and the list goes on and on! I like to make a large batch and save the leftovers for an easy addition for future meals.

Quick kitchen hack: You can freeze extras in silicone ice cube trays for quick single-use add-ins.

Ingredients:
  • 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 3-4 large Onions
  • Splash of Balsamic Vinegar
  • Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Method
  1. Dice onions.
  2. Put a couple spoonfuls of coconut oil in a pan over medium-high heat and add diced onions.
  3. Cook for a few minutes until you see a few golden edges, season with a splash of balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Turn down to low heat and put the lid on for around an hour, (the longer the better), stirring occasionally.
  5. At the very end, remove the lid, turn up to high, stir constantly until the excess liquid evaporates and the onions get little colour.
  6. Turn off, add more salt and pepper to taste and let rest.

Slow Cooker Method:

You can also throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker on low and let them do their thing overnight or longer. You get a slightly different taste but it’s a big timesaver.