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If you haven’t tried this avocado panini yet, I recommend you grab the sandwich fixins and make it. Right now. Seriously. It’s a great alternative grilled cheese,  and only takes a few minutes to make. Check out the recipe here.

Feel free to keep it simple too. No dijon mustard or white beans? No problem. Make it with just avocado and tomato, and maybe some red onion. I promise it’s just as delicious.

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Trident Booksellers & Cafe - Newbury Street, Boston, Mass.

Let me take a moment here to give a shout out to my favorite cafe in Boston. Trident recently expanded and took over the floor above them, so it’s now a two story oasis of books, juices, coffee, tea, and really kick ass food. They’re open til midnight every night of the week, always have good books on sale, and make the biggest black bean burger you’ve ever seen. If you’re ever in the bean, please go check it out.

Pesto di Pistacchio

This is my attempt at recreating the best pasta dish I had in Italy, and it was pretty successful if I do say so myself. Of course I could never make it as well as the small, hole in the wall restaurant in Rome. But they can keep their secret, and  I’ll take second place with pride.

  • 1C shelled pistachios
  • 1C packed basil
  • 1/2C parsley
  • 1/2C extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • salt and pepper
  • cherry tomatoes
  • pasta of choice, I used linguine.

Cut tomatoes into halves, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 until they begin to dehydrate, looking similar to a prune texture. While they’re roasting, cook your pasta.

For the pesto:
Pulse pistachios in a food processor until they’re finely chopped. Add in basil, parsley, EVOO and garlic. Continue pulsing until smooth, add salt and pepper to taste.

Combine pesto with cooked pasta, add your tomatoes and enjoy!

Yummy Bean Salsa

Hello everyone, I’m Anna-Leigh! This is my first post taking over for Madde so I’m going to start out with one of my new favorites. Recently, my friend had a graduation party, and being the fantastic friend that he is he assured me he would have plenty of vegan stuff for me to eat. One of the things he made was this delicious black eyed pea bean salsa. I got the recipe, tweaked it just a little, and ended up with this. It’s great to bring to cook outs and eat with tortilla chips!

  • 1 lb bag black eyed peas
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 1/2C frozen corn
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 jalepeno (stem and seeds removed)
  • juice from 2 limes
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 4 stalks green onion
  • 2T olive oil
  • 1/4C red wine vinegar
  • 1/2C cilantro
  • 1 avocado
  • salt & pepper

1) cook black eyed peas according to bag directions, then drain

2) dice the onion, green pepper, and tomato, then combine with black eyed peas and frozen corn in a large bowl

3) put the jalepeno, lime juice, garlic cloves, green onion, olive oil, vinegar, and cilantro in a food processor and let it go until you come up with something that looks similar to pesto

4) add to bowl with the black eyed peas and other veggies, add a little salt and pepper, and stir to combine

5) let chill, covered, in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or overnight, the longer it chills the longer the flavors get to meld)

6) dice avocado and add to the mixture when ready to serve

Hope you all enjoy this as much as I do!

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Raw Taco Salad

Okay, I’m about to change your life, so listen up! Blend walnuts, tomato and cumin together and BOOM. You have the perfect taco filling. It’s so delicious, I can’t even begin to tell you. So just go make some and try it yourself.

  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 2 medium tomatos
  • romaine lettuce
  • 1/2 a medium onion
  • 1 avocado
  • cumin
  • cayenne

1) Blend together your walnuts, one tomato, cumin and cayenne. That’s your “taco meat.” (but obviously 100x better)
2) Chop your lettuce, other tomato and onion. Toss together.
3) Top with walnut meat and avocado.