Spinach Basil Pesto

So this was one of the original recipe ideas behind actually wanting to begin a family food blog over a year ago and only now am I getting to putting it in writing.  Not sure what took so long, but....

The back story to this comes from the lengthy pursuit to figure out just what in the world was wrong with our daughter's immune system.  After about a year and a half (now 3) of nearly continuous respiratory illnesses, coughs, allergies, sleepless nights and general tuberculosisness, we were tired of being offered antibiotics and various other things for her not-infections and found our way to an incredible Pediatric Naturopath (Dr. Molly Gray at West Seattle Natural Medicine).  Dr. Gray offered many great thoughts and ideas, but as any parent of a toddler knows, hearing that your toddler should "eat something green every day" can border on ridiculous.  She suggested making a spinach pesto.... so I did.  And I have never gone back. 

In my kitchen, I basically use pesto as salt anyway.  Really, what can't benefit from some fresh basil, garlic, oil, salt and pepper really?  Eggs? Salads? Sandwiches? Potatoes? Rice? Quinoa? Pasta?  Please. 

Initially it began as a priority in Mia's food, then after a few months we realized that there was no reason not to punch up the nutrients in all of our foods.   We use it in everything.  I typically make up a huge batch, then pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it all.  I just put a cube or two in a jar in the fridge when I use the last one and they thaw in an hour or so.  You could even pop out however many cubes you want a few minutes before you need them and you are set to go if they are going in a hot dish. 

As for Mia's health....after a year and half our family eats even healthier and more balanced than before but nothing helped her immune system significantly until we found the enormous mold reservoir crawling its way through all of our walls.  The good news, is she loves pesto.

Basil Spinach Pesto (makes 3-4 cups-a lot!)

• 4 cups basil leaves (top stems OK), rinsed and patted dry
• 1 big bag fresh spinach leaves (organic preferably)
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup nuts (pine nuts are traditional but I like almonds, pecans or whatever)
• 1/4c finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan (optional) 
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Splash of something acidic- like vinaigrette dressing or lemon or whatever.  This gives a great zip to the pesto

Directions
Pulse/blend all ingredients together in blender or food processor until it is the consistency you are looking for. I prefer it to be fairly smooth, so I let it go for a several seconds after pulsing it several times.  This really will all fit in a standard food processor, but you can do it in batches and then mix them all together before using or freezing.

Optional next step to freeze in 1-2T amounts in ice cube tray for a few hours. You can either store them in the tray, or transfer them to a different container to keep frozen.

You can see I used cashews here.  I have never been accused of being traditional.

Summer Quinoa Salad

You could nearly make the case that this is a quinoa blog and I would have to agree.  Here comes another amazing recipe, this one from my amazing mom, Jeanne.  For nearly 3 years now, she has been "Grandma Jeannie", until a month or so ago when Mia quite accidentally called her "Greenie", and of course that is now what she is known by, despite nearly 4 decades of my knowing her otherwise.

Anyway, as any good only child daughter would, I initially ignored this recipe when she sent it to me, slightly annoyed that she would take yet another of my recipes and clearly improve it.  No matter- and good for anyone reading this- because she made it for dinner the other night and it was amazing!  Absolutely delicious and good for many helpings.  I then muscled Mike out for the leftovers the next day for lunch and it was at least as good, if not better. 

And now I put it here, along with a small and well earned slice of humble pie for myself.  Enjoy!

Greenie's Summer Quinoa Salad:  serves 4

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup olive oil (maybe a dash more?)
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 4  tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 2-3 tbsp chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 cup kalama olives, quartered
• 1/3 - 2/3 cup crumbled feta
• (optional) add in 1/4-1/2 cup of fresh or sun-dried tomatoes!

Directions:

1. Wash, rinse, and drain quinoa.  Place in a 2 quart pot, add water and salt, and bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer with lid on until all water is absorbed (15 - 20 min).  Don't stir the grain while it is cooking.  Test for doneness by tilting the pan to one side, making sure all of the water has been absorbed.  Remove lid and let rest 5 to 10 min. (I spread it out in a shallow dish and turn it occasionally to let all the steam escape.)

2.  Meanwhile, dry toast the pine nuts in low heated skillet or 300 F oven until they begin to change color and give off aroma.

3. Combine olive oil, lemon juice and basil in a large bowl.  Add chives and olives.  I let these ingredients marry for 30 min or more, then add toasted pine nuts and quinoa and toss.  Lastly I add the feta and fold it in.   Serve at room temp.

No-Bake Oatmeal Cookie Balls (Gluten-free/Dairy-free)

These are tasty little numbers adapted from a recipe given to me by Mia's Naturopath, Dr. Molly Gray.  We love her and everyone else we have seen at their clinic.  Dr. Gray has been especially amazing in how she treats Mia like a full human and makes her visit there extremely positive and cooperative, vs. doing things to her whether Mia wants them or not.

So these were supposed to be a yummy treat that Mia would love to eat and just pack her with nutrients and such, but it turns out she wasn't into them.  Toddlers, right?  But me?  I absolutely loved them!  Being the food enthusiast/Physical Therapist that I am, I brought them to work and shared them with my colleague and about half of my patients and unanimously we all agreed that they were amazing!  To borrow from Cooks Magazine: "Tasters referred to them as 'delicious', 'abundently satisfying' and 'just right, such that you eat one and are completely sated'".  Really, try them for yourself if you have an extra 3 minutes to spare.  That is all it will take.  Bonus, these are the kind of thing that you could put just about anything into and in fact, I used the little bits of about 4 different types of nuts and trail mixes just to clean the cupboard. 

Oatmeal No-Bake Cookie Balls

• 1 cup whole oats (use certified gluten-free if needed)
• 1c mixed nuts (I used salted pumpkin seeds, walnuts, pecans and pine nuts)
• 4 dates, pitted
• 1/2-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2-3 Tbls pure maple syrup

Directions
1) in food processor or blender, blend up the oats and nuts until they are finely chopped; add dates and blend until they are also finely chopped.

2) add vanilla and 2T syrup and pulse a few times to combine.  This will still be very coarse in presentation (see photo below).  Add more syrup as you see fit.

3) scoop up small hand fulls and smash into balls.

Pulsed without vanilla or maple syrup

with the vanilla and maple

 

too beautiful not to add a picture of them!  Reminds me of working on a Kibbutz many moons ago....



scoop up a handful....

and smash it into a ball!


Enjoy!!

Lady Diana's Feta Spread (Gluten-free/Dairy-adaptable)

This spread comes from my mom via her friend Diana.  For the feta lovers out there, this will knock your socks off!  I love it as a spread, dip and even salad dressing.  When you are mixing it up, you can just adjust the amount of time you blend it according to your needs.  You can also play with the mint here and use basil or some other herb of your choice.  For those who know me and already think I have lost my marbles with the Cilantro Pesto post, you will be further surprised to learn how delicious the mint is here!

I dare you to not want to eat it with a spoon and I double dare you to not just dip your fingers in it when your guests aren't looking.  Go ahead.

Lady Diana's Amazing Feta Spread

• 1/4 c fresh mint
• several cloves of garlic
• 3 T olive oil ( more to consistency and taste)
• 1/2 to 3/4c Feta  
• 2 - 4 T lemon juice.

Directions

1. Put first the oil, mint and garlic in a food processor or blender and mix for several seconds.

2.  Add the feta cheese and blend a bit more- to desired consistency.  You may want to add a bit more oil here if you want.

3.  Stir in lemon juice.

Serve with anything at all that you want to dip!

Sheep's Milk Feta Cheese

This is the most amazing thing in the world of feta cheese.  Even before learning that I was princess sensitive to cow's milk/dairy, you would find me eating sheep and goat cheese over cow any day.  Now that this has become more of a lifestyle for me, I can't possibly imagine living without this cheese. 

It is tangy and creamy and perfectly balanced.  Delicious on salads, pizzas, sandwiches, in quinoa dishes (such as the Quinoa Tamale, Mediterranean Quinoa, or just tossed in a bowl of it!), on pasta, with crisp apples & pears and....

I find it at Trader Joe's and buy at least 3 bricks every time. 

Enjoy!

Mango Banana Recovery Ice Cream (Dairy Free)

Are you running in the Rock & Roll Half/Full Marathon this weekend in Seattle?  If so, please do consider this as quite possibly the BEST recovery snack to have in your first 30 minutes after running to replenish your depleted nutritional resources.  Seriously, this is perhaps the most perfect post-race food and totally delightful at the same time. 

Not to mention the fun for me of finally talking my daughter into the fact that ice cream is delicious and fun, even though it is cold.  Hard to be ice cream without the cold part.  Anyway, now she is totally into it and I can take heart in the fact that this ice cream is full of fresh fruit and calcium rich almond milk and juice.  That's it!  Also, feel free to play with the fruit and juice you toss in to work with whatever is in your freezer.

Of course this is good for an everyday ice cream treat as well!

Mango Banana Recovery Ice Cream

1 banana, frozen in pieces
3/4 cup or so frozen mango pieces
2-4 Tbls Almond milk (or any other milk-type... rice, soy, cow....)
2-4 Tbls Orange Juice (optional)

Directions:

In high powered blender or food processor, toss in the banana and mango, then add a few tablespoons of  almond milk (I just put in a long drizzle).  Start the blender or food processor going and slowly add a tablespoon (or glug) at a time of milk and/or juice.  Use more milk to make it ice creamier and more juice to make it creamsickle-ey-er.  Then scoop it into your favorite delivery item.  Mia is a fan of the cone and they make perfectly good gluten-free cones to be had at any grocery store these days.  Or any other cone, or cup, or cookie....

Makes about 3 good sized servings.  I recommend immediate consumption for a good soft texture, but it does freeze well for later eating if for some unrecognizable reason you can't finish it all.

Beautifully smooth!

Can you argue with that?

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars (Gluten-free)

I am a huge fan of having guest bloggers here on Fawnalicious.  So far only Katie has with her fantastic Basque Red Bean Soup. I have been super busy lately getting the new PT clinic up and running so have barely had chance to cook for myself and the family, much less write about it.  So this brings us up to today's delicious recipe from the Great Auntie Bert.  Now, while everything that follows is her creation, this is my blog after all and therefore I get to take a moment to talk about her. 

Bert is a special friend, colleague, godmother and 'Auntie' to our daughter.   I hope beyond hope that anyone reading this has friends like her.  She is one of those friends that makes your life easier by just being a part of it.  Anyone who knows her is aware of the love and generosity she brings to those she spends time with.  She makes being a parent a little easier with each visit shared.  And now she comes through again with the following recipe which she happens to have talked big about for weeks now, but I have never tasted since they get gobbled up by anyone who comes close to them.  Now I will make them my darn self.


From Bert:

"This is a lovely treat, which is super easy and can be a little more sweet or less sweet depending on how you might choose to adapt it. It has been used a breakfast bar in a pinch, or a pre-exercise snack.

Prep time 10 min, bake time 30 min, and they freeze well~

Makes 16 bars

I am not a stickler for following recipes and this with this one you can get away with that behavior for sure!

Bert’s Gluten-free Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

• 1 1/4 cups gluten free flour
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats, divided
• 1 cup raspberry jam
• 1 large handful of choc chips 43% cacao (optional, although why wouldn’t you!)
• 1 medium handful of walnuts chopped, (optional)

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 9-inch-square baking dish with cooking spray.

2.Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

3.Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla and almond extracts until smooth. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; mix until combined. Stir in 13/4 cups oats. Spread 2/3 of batter on bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread raspberry jam over the batter with back of spoon.

4.Add remaining 1/4 cup oats to remaining batter. Crumble over top of raspberry jam. Bake 30 minutes, or until golden. Cool, then cut into bars.

Bert's fav gluten-free AP flour blend

In the mix!

(adapted from many sources…..)"