Although summer is winding down, we are still having hot days here in Montana. Maybe you can relate to this, but when your apartment has no AC, you avoid cooking and heating up the place as much as possible! So! I have explored a new cuisine…no-cook recipes.
No-cook recipes basically use ingredients that have been cooked already (such as canned beans) or are just straight up raw. Not only are they great to avoid heating the house, but they also come together super quick!
For this recipe I drew inspiration from one of my favorite chefs Heidi Swanson. She is a cookbook author and I get recipes in my email from her! Check out her website and blog with recipes here.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- 2 cups of organic cherry tomatoes
- 3T-1/4c of vegan basil pesto (recipe follows)
- 1 fresh lemon
- Sea Salt
- 8 oz of Gluten free spaghetti (I like banza)*
- ¼ cup Toasted sunflower seeds
- ½ cup Castelvetrano olives, sliced
- 1 cup Zucchini, spiralized or diced into small cubes
- Fresh basil, chiffonade
MAKE IT!…
Grab all your ingredients. In a deep bowl, combine the cherry tomatoes, pesto, salt, the zest of one lemon, and 1T of lemon juice. Blend with a hand blender briefly leaving chunks of tomatoes still. If you don’t have a hand blender you can pulse the sauce in a food processor or high powered blender but be sure to leave some chunks. Mix well and season with salt to your taste.
Bring a pot of water to a boil with plenty of salt. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.
Meanwhile prepare the zucchini, slice the olives, and chiffonade the basil by stacking multiple leaves on top of eachother, rolling them up, and slicing lengthwise into thin strips. Tip, use a rocking motion when slicing the basil starting your slice at the tip of your knife and driving the knife down while pushing the knife forward and through the basil leaves. You should end your slice gliding through the basil with the butt end of the knife. By using the whole knife in this way you prevent bruising of the leaves and also get a clean cut all the way through…If this is making no sense youtube it;)
Drain the pasta once it is cooked and add the sauce, olives, and zucchini. Stir with tongs and top with fresh basil and the toasted sunflower seeds. Walnuts would be delicious here too. You can also add in other vegetables such as broccoli, mushrooms, sprouts, or asparagus which are all delicious!
Enjoy!
* You can make this recipe completely no-cook by subbing more zucchini for the pasta.
VEGAN PESTO
- 1 fresh lemon zested
- ½ fresh lemon juiced
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ -¾ tsp salt
- Black pepper to taste
- ⅓ c raw walnuts
- ⅓ c organic extra virgin olive oil (or more as needed)
- 4c packed fresh basil leaves
In a food processor or high power blender pulse the zest and juice of the lemon, garlic, salt and pepper, walnuts, and basil to get a chunky mixture. With the food processor running begin to drizzle in the olive oil slowly until you reach your desired consistency. Taste and adjust lemon juice and/or salt. Enjoy!
Abigail E. Holistic 