Homemade vegan pesto

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I am a big Pesto fan. It's so rich in taste, nutritious and diverse. It can be red or green. It can be made with cashews, pine nuts, and pumpkin seeds. Spread it on (homemade) sourdough bread or use it as a pasta or gnocchi sauce. Perfect options for a quick summer lunch.

Basil exploded in my garden this summer, so I made a few batches of green pesto. Since we moved from a house abundant in pine trees and don't harvest our own, I rarely use pine nuts, so this recipe is made with toasted pumpkin seeds. Pine nuts are pricy but also quite calorie-dense due to the significant fat content - 100 grams of pine nuts have 673 calories, while pumpkin seeds have only 446. Fat content is 68 grams (pine nuts) vs. 19 grams in pumpkin seeds. The fat in pine nuts is good fat though, so don't cross them off your shopping list yet. They only have 5 g of saturated fat (in 100 g). Still, I prefer to sprinkle them on salads or risotto and enjoy a more guilt-free pesto.

Pumpkin seeds have a high content of protein (almost 30 g in 100 g), and are rich in minerals such as manganese, copper, potassium, magnesium, zinc and iron. They are also high in antioxidants, which can reduce inflammation in the body and help cells fight free radicals. Basil is also rich in micronutrients and can help lower blood pressure and help lower cholesterol due to its essential oils. Other ingredients add to this list of health benefits. So, plenty of reasons to add green pesto to your diet.
Parsley gives this pesto an extra taste layer, don’t omit it as it won’t be the same without it!

King Oyster salad

PREP TIME: 15 MIN
1 JAR OF PESTO

Ingredients

  • 100 g sweet basil

  • 10 g rucola

  • 10 g parsley

  • 90 g lightly toasted pumpkin seeds

  • 2 medium garlic cloves

  • 4-5 tbsp olive oil

  • 1 tbsp water (more if needed)

  • 1/2 lemon (juice)

  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

  • Salt, pepper

Method

Place all the ingredients except for the nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper in a high-speed blender and blend. Add more water if too thick. Start adding the salt, pepper, and 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast. Blend, taste, and add more until you are happy with the taste. You can also add a bit more lemon if you prefer. Sometimes I start with less garlic too, some garlic cloves can be powerful so it’s better to add than be overwhelmed with fresh garlic. Refrigerate and use within 10 days.
Enjoy!

King Oyster salad

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I just love King Oysters; they are a staple in my kitchen. Also known as the king trumpet and eryngii, they have a dense, meaty texture and mild earthy, umami flavour. These amazing mushrooms are so versatile you can really get creative with them. They can be cooked or eaten raw. Today I wanted to share a super simple salad using raw King Oyster mushroom.

This salad is a vegan, guilt-free version of an octopus salad. Octopuses are such wonderful beings (did you watch My friend octopus?? I cried so much!) and belong in the sea, not our plates. Thankfully, the amazing King Oyster mushroom does a great job of imitating the octopus part; the texture and chewiness are so similar that you won't ever need to use anything else, even if not vegan. It is also packed with micronutrients. It contains riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, potassium, copper, thiamin, vitamin B6, folate, iron, magnesium, zinc and manganese. And, of course, it's very low in saturated fat and cholesterol. In Croatia, we would use parsley for this type of salad, but I had to go with the Portuguese and use fresh coriander. So, without further ado... 

King Oyster salad

PREP TIME: 15 MIN
SERVES 2

Ingredients

  • 1 King Oyster mushroom

  • 1/2 red onion

  • 1 small (or 1/2 large) red pepper

  • Fresh coriander (or parsley)

  • Olive oil (about 3 tbsp)

  • Vinegar (to taste)

  • Salt, pepper

Method

Dice the mushroom, onion and pepper, chop the coriander (or parsley). Mix it all together and season with good virgin olive oil and good quality vinegar (I use red wine vinegar or apple cider). Salt and pepper to taste. Leave it covered and refrigerated for an hour or so to marinate before serving.

Butternut squash and red lentil soup

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Creamy, tasty and very nutritious, this vegan butternut squash and red lentil soup is a perfect winter meal.

We just returned from Lisbon, where we spent Christmas week, and I was happy to return to my kitchen and prepare a home-cooked meal. I like eating out, especially in Lisbon, since it has many great vegan restaurants, and almost all other restaurants have vegan options. Still, after a while, I miss home-cooked food with organic ingredients from my local organic farmers market. After a week of overeating, we decided to have soup and bread for dinner, and pumpkin lentil soup was a perfect choice. It is rich, nutritious, well-balanced, and perfect for winter. I made it fat free just because I felt we needed a fat- free meal.

This soup is high in protein (11 g, which is about 20% DV), high in fibre (27% DV), high in Iron, Magnesium, Potassium and Manganese and low in fat. Once cup (1.5 serving) of butternut squash provides over 400% RDI (Recommended Dietary Intake) of Vitamin A, 50 % Vitamin C, and just over 10% of B1, B3, B6, B9. Red lentils are rich in Folate, Vitamin B6, Zinc, Copper, Iron etc.

Serve with a wholemeal sourdough bread.

Butternut squash and red lentil soup

PREP TIME: 30 minutes
SERVINGS: 4

Ingredients

  • 500 g butternut squash (peeled, seeded, cubed)

  • 2 medium potatoes (200 g) peeled and cubed

  • 150 g red lentils

  • 350 ml water

  • 1 tsp vegetable stock

  • salt, pepper

  • pumpkin seeds and pumpkin oil

Method

  • Bring water to boil

  • Add veg stock, salt, veggies and lentils

  • Cook until veggies and lentils are done

  • Blend and add more salt (if needed) and pepper

  • Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin oil

  • Serve with sourdough bread

Nutrition