expensive or cheap?

I love the cold pestos we make all summer long when the basil is gorgeous & growing like crazy in the garden. We tried this chickpea pasta — Banza pasta — with pesto last week and it was great. Then Mark ran across it in Whole Foods and saw what I’d paid. But! Since the pasta is made from beans, you could certainly skip adding protein to this meal.

Two 8-oz. boxes feeds all five of us because our people aren’t that big. For the pesto, just fill the food processor with basil, a clove of garlic, a quarter cup good olive oil, a handful each of peanuts and grated parmesan, and some sea salt to taste. I like a glass of red wine with this. Aside from that, the only pricey item is basil, which, if you live around here, gets planted, thrives on sun & water and feeds you all summer long.

Just fill your food processor with:

Basil, filled to the top
A garlic clove
A handful of peanuts
Parmesan, if you like - a handful
Good olive oil, maybe 1/4 cup
Sea salt, if you like

Pulse and toss with pasta.

automatic breakfast

If there's one thing I've learned from going unrefined, it's the wisdom of putting good practices on auto play. For me, breakfast is one of those things. If your house is like mine in the morning, it's probably best to just memorize breakfast.

I wake up looking forward to this high energy treat which practically makes itself while I clothe, feed & sweep people into the car. I combine 1/4 cup pre-made-by-me oatmeal, ceylon cinnamon, a ripe banana and/or handful of other fruit, and top with four teaspoons of any nut butter. A big batch of steel cut oatmeal lasts a week in the fridge. It’s great with frozen blueberries. I like to mash it into a beautiful mess letting the banana sweeten it all.

Melissa Clark -inspired shrimp & broccoli

Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite is one of my dog-eared favorite cookbooks, with genius recipes and delightful essays. Her take on roasted shrimp & broccoli has sophisticated flavor but is stupid-simple to make. I've adapted it here to be ultra slimdown-friendly. You need two big, flat baking sheets for it. It makes three dinner sized portions.

3 pounds broccoli, bite sized

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon each: coriander, cumin, black pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne or hot chili powder

1 teaspoon lemon zest from a large lemon

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled/deveined

Preheat oven to 425. In a huge bowl, toss the broccoli with half the oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, and all the spices. In a separate bowl, combine shrimp, lemon zest, remaining oil and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Spread the broccoli over two large baking sheets and roast for ten minutes. Toss in the shrimp and roast about ten minutes more. Shrimp should be just opaque. Squeeze on some lemon juice & serve.

banana oatmeal muffins

Banana muffins are the glorious staple when I have four minutes to whip together the batter and 25 minutes go do something while breakfast bakes. I’m posting this photo of my beloved J mug because it was my grandma Jane’s morning cup, and no one did fast and delicious like she did. 

Here are two equally good batters that can be hand blended ‘til smooth, poured into 4 lightly oiled muffin tins and baked at 350 for 20-25 minutes. One batch is one serving.

#1

1 oz. dry oatmeal, plain or pulsed fine

1 beaten egg

1 oz. peanut butter  

4 oz. lighly mashed banana  

2 oz. unsweetened applesauce  

a dash of salt and cinnamon, nutmeg to taste

1/8 teaspoon each of baking powder  & baking soda

2) This one is slightly adapted from Katie’s Bright Kitchen. I omit crushed nuts and instead drizzle melty peanut butter over the muffins.

1 oz. dry oats

1 beaten egg

6 oz. mashed bananas  

2 oz. milk

1/8 each of baking soda & baking powder  

dash salt, cardamom, cinnamon &/or nutmeg  

After baking/cooling, top muffins with melty peanut butter: 1 tablespoon water whisked into 0.5 oz. peanut butter.

spicy carrot fries with nut butter hummus (guerilla meal tactic #88: )

A friend whose taste I trust passed along a recipe from Katie’s Bright Kitchen (a treasure chest of recipes compatible with how I eat).

Her recipes are so forgiving. All I had was half the ingredients and no time, and still I turned out a satisfying little meal. The carrot fries are the star, the hummus is the protein, and fruit is on the side.

 Ingredients:

1 lb. carrots

3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

About a half teaspoon each of turmeric, curry powder, paprika, oregano, garlic powder, salt & pepper.

For dipping: 3 oz hummus blended with 1 oz almond butter (or just 4 oz. plain hummus) and lemon juice to taste.

Preheat oven to 425. Slice lengthwise the carrots. Into the olive oil, stir about a half teaspoon each of all the spices. Rub on the carrots, add a dash more salt & roast 20 minutes, rearranging halfway through. 

I made a dipping sauce to substitute for the originally called-for tahini and pistachios I didn’t have. Mixed up 1 oz. almond butter, 3 oz. pre-made hummus, a little salt and lots of lemon juice to taste. Plain hummus would’ve worked fine.