ariel's making ... pesto hummus

i adore fresh basil ... and i love hummus ... so why not combine the two?


for this dip you'll need:

4 cups of organic cooked garbanzo beans, plus 1 cup of their liquid
juice of 2 organic lemons
garlic ... as much as you dare! go wild!
handful of fresh organic basil leafs

4 T. organic roasted tahini
2 T. extra virgin organic olive oil
1 t. organic cayenne powder
sea salt and pepper to taste


blend it all together 'til smooth.


so good ... and so easy.

serve with fresh veggies and pita and enjoy!!

kisses,

ariel

ariel's making ... baby 'chokes with fresh pesto

all purple and green ... these little artichokes are quite a chef's dream!


shuck off a lot of the outside leaves because they can be very tough ... then slice them in half.


chop up some fresh garlic and saute it in a pan with olive oil ... then add your little 'chokes.


saute for about 3 minutes, them add about 1/4 c. of water and cover and let them steam for about ten minutes 'til they're tender.


while they're steaming, make some pesto ... i made some with fresh basil, green garlic, olive oil and salt.


serve your dainty little artichokes with the pesto and a bit of strong feta.

delish!!

kisses,

ariel

ariel's making ... garlic asparagus

i love spring veggies, especially asparagus. but you gotta act quick with these babies -- they're only in the market for a few weeks! at the farmers' market this weekend i splurged on two beautiful bunches, and cooked them up for sunday dinner.


we also had this lovely fresh garlic, so i decided to marinate the asparagus with lots of garlic.


steam the asparagus for about 5-10 minutes until they easy to poke with a knife, but not mushy.


then top them with garlic, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper, vinegar ... really anything you want!


here's the hard part -- wait! that's right ... try to wait as long as you can to eat this dish ... the longer it sits, the tastier it gets. but that's kinda hard to do, so just make a big batch, eat half, and let the other half soak 'til tomorrow.

now go marinate on that recipe ... and let me know what you think!

kisses,

ariel

Karina Makes Vegan Thai Pizza!

I was cleaning out my kitchen cabinet as I was pondering what I could make for dinner, and found some peanuts, polenta and coconut milk. I have been craving pizza, so I decided to make a spicy coconut thai pizza sauce with a cornmeal crust and go from there.

In a food processor I pureed peanuts, a 1/2 can coconut milk, a cup or two of fresh cilantro, 3 or 4 cloves of garlic, 2 tbls chopped fresh ginger, a can of organic garbanzo beans, fresh lime juice, 1-2 tbl tahini, cinnamon, cayenne, paprika, salt, agave, and water until I got a slightly sweet, smoothly spicy sauce I could eat by the spoonful.

I took my polenta (or yellow cornmeal- a little over 1/2 cup), 2 tbls baking soda, 2 tbl olive oil, 1 cup of unbleached flour, a pinch of salt, and 1/2 cup of water and made my dough. I put all of my ingredients in my food processor until it formed a large, smooth, shiny dough ball, but you can absolutely hand knead in for about 10 minutes to get the same outcome.

I draped a damp kitchen towel over my dough and let sit on the counter for several hours until I was ready for it.

30 minutes before my dinner guests arrived, I coated my cookie sheet with olive oil and a light dusting of flour. I patted my hands in flour to keep it from sticking, and spread out the dough (with and aid of a glass jar) to cover it completely.

I spread out my sauce evenly so it was not too thick and heavy, and sprinkled vegan almond cheese that I shredded on top of that.

I cut up fresh, organic crimini mushrooms, red bell peppers, yellow squash, red onion, cilantro, strips of eggplant (rubbed in olive oil and salt), peanuts and small orange segments. I sprinkled with salt and pepper and put into the oven at 500* for about 12-14 minutes.

The only downfall was that it was gone too soon!

Karina and Alma "amuse" their "bouche"....

We've all been in the state where we are by no means hungry or even capable of eating a full meal, but crave something unique and delicious to satiate the taste buds. Some may call these mini-meals munchies (or simply snacks), but this particular evening Alma and I were in need of something extra special; so we used the french term "Amuse- Bouche".

Amuse Bouche actually translates to "mouth amuser" and it is often sent out to VIP tables from the chef in restaurant before their meal. Wikipedia told me that "it is distinguished from other kinds of hors d'œuvres by three characteristics. It is small, usually just one or two bites. It is the same for all of the guests at the table. And finally, it is not ordered by anyone; rather it is offered free of charge."

We had a few ingredients at my house and ran to the market and picked a few more to improvise with. We got garlic, of course, an avocado, a prepared tube of organic polenta, Quorn vegetarian Chicken nuggets, and a pomegranate to garnish with.

First we turned the oven on 400* and put the whole bulb of garlic in to roast for about 45 minutes. We sliced the cooked polenta into 1/4 inch thick circles, and spread them out on a cookie sheet with the faux chicken nuggets. We added these to the oven when the garlic had about 15 minutes left. We sprinkled them with salt, pepper, lemon and cayenne before popping them in to turn golden brown and slightly crunchy.

We mashed the avocado up with some vegan sour cream I had, lemon, salt and pepper for a delicious and creamy sauce. We took our baked ingredients and stacked them together with the sauce and roasted garlic and sprinkled them with pomegranate seeds and fresh cayenne pepper.

Only problem with these "amuse bouche".... Although they did indeed make us feel like ultra VIPs, there was no way to stop after just one! (I'm not sure if they qualify for the term after eating the entire tray between two of us!)

ariel's making ... brussels sprouts with pomegranate glaze

my boyfriend sam bought me a bottle of this awesome pomegranate molasses the other week. it's really delish (i could just eat it by the spoonful!) but i've never used it before in cooking so it was time to get creative.

i had just gotten some fresh brussels sprouts at the farmers' market so i decided to try roasting them up with a pomegranate glaze.

first i washed and halved them.

then it was time to make the glaze.

you'll need:

2 T pomegranate molasses
2 T organic extra virgin olive oil
few pinches of sea salt
clove of chopped organic garlic

then i topped them generously with the glaze and popped them in the oven at 350* for about 40 minutes.

when they were a little brown and soft, they were ready to eat! after they came out of the oven, i topped them with a drizzle of garlic mayo ... just for kicks!

my lens got all steamy after i took the brussels out of the oven and i got this cra-cra photo of my oven. spooky!

happy almost thanksgiving darlings!

kisses,

ariel